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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 







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BUILDING AND FLYING 
AN AEROPLANE 

PART II 


INSTRUCTION PAPER 


PREPARED BY 


CHARLES B. HAYWARD 

Member, Society of Automobile Engineers 
Member, The Aeronautical Society 
Formerly Secretary, Society of Automobile Engineers 
Formerly Engineering Editor, The Automobile 



e 


o 


AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CORRESPONDENCE 


CHICAGO 


U.S.A. 


IEUNOIS 












Copyright 1912 bi 

American School op Correspondence 

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London 
All Rights Reserved 



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BUILDING AND FLYING AN 

AEROPLANE 

PART II 

BUILDING A BLERIOT MONOPLANE 


As mentioned in connection with the description of its con¬ 
struction, the Curtiss biplane was selected as a standard of this type 
of aeroplane after which the student could safely pattern for a number 
of reasons. It is not only remarkably simple in construction, easily 
built by anyone with moderate facilities and at a slight outlay, but 
it is likewise the easiest machine to learn to drive. The monoplane is 
far more difficult and expensive to build. 

The Bleriot may be regarded as the most typical example in this 
field, in view of its great success and the very large numbers which 
have been turned out. In fact, the Bleriot monoplane is the product 
of a factory which would compare favorably with some of the large 
automobile plants. Its construction requires skillful workmanship 
both in wood and metal, and a great many special castings, forgings, 
and stampings are necessary. Although some concerns in this 
country advertise that they carry these fittings as stock parts, they 
are not always correct in design and, in any case, are expensive. 
Wherever it is possible to avoid the use of such parts by any expedient, 
both forms of construction are described, so that the builder may 
take his choice. 

Bleriot monoplanes are made in a number of different models, 
the principal ones being the 30-horse-power “runabout,” Figs. 23 
and 24, the 50- and 70-horse-power passenger-carrying machines, 
and the 50-, 70-, and 100-horse-power racing machines. Of these the 
first has been chosen as best adapted to the purpose. Its construction 
is typical of the higher-power monoplanes of the same make, and it 
is more suitable for the beginner to fly as well as to build. It is 
employed exclusively by the Bleriot schools. 

Motor. The motor regularly employed is the 30-horse-power, 
three-cylinder Anzani, a two-cylinder type of which is shown in 

Copyright , 1912, by American School of Correspondence. 





Fig. 23. Details of Bleriot Monoplane 






























































































































































































































































































































































































































































60 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


‘‘Aeronautical Motors,” Fig. 40. From the amateur’s standpoint, a 
disadvantage of the Bleriot is the very short space allowed for the 
installation of the motor. For this reason, the power plant must be 
fan shaped, like the Anzani; star form, like the Gnome; or of the 
two-cylinder opposed type. It must likewise be air-cooled, as there 
is no space available for a radiator. 

Fuselage. Like most monoplanes, the Bleriot has a long central 
body, usually termed “fuselage,” to which the wings, running gear, 
and controls are all attached. A drawing of the fuselage with all 
dimensions is reproduced in Fig. 25, and as the machine is, to a large 
extent, built up around this essential, its construction is taken up 
first. It consists of four long beams united by 35 crosspieces. The 
beams are of ash, 1inches square for the first third of their length 



Fig. 26. Details of U-bolt Which Is a Feature of Bleriot Construction 


and tapering to J inch square at the rear ends. Owing to the diffi¬ 
culty of securing good pieces of wood the full length, and also to 
facilitate packing for shipment, the beams are made in halves, the 
abutting ends being joined by sleeves of lf-inch, 20-gauge steel 
tubing, each held on by two J-inch bolts. Although the length of 
the fuselage is 21 feet 11J inches, the beams must be made of two 
11-foot halves to allow for the curve at the rear ends. 

The struts are also of ash, the majority of them being J by 1| 
inches, and oval in section except for an inch and a half at each end. 
But the first, second, and third struts (counting from the forward 
end) on each side, the first and second on the top, and the first strut 




































BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


61 


on the bottom are 1^ inches square, of the same stock as the main 
beams. Practically all of the struts are joined to the main beams 
by u-bolts, as shown by the detail drawing, Fig. 26, this being one 
of Louis Bleriot’s inventions. The small struts are held by f-inch 
bolts and the larger ones by tV-inch bolts. The ends of the struts 
must be slotted for these bolts, this being done by drilling three holes 
in a row with a or ^-inch drill, according to whether the slot is 
for the smaller or larger size bolt. The wood between the holes is 
cut out with a sharp knife and the slot finished with a coarse, flat file. 

All of the u-bolts measure 2 inches between the ends. The 
vertical struts are set 1 inch forward of the corresponding horizontal 
struts, so that the four holes through the beam at each joint are 
spaced 1 inch apart, alternately horizontal and vertical. To the 
projecting angles of the u-bolts are attached the diagonal truss wires, 
which cross all the rectangles of the fuselage, except that in which the 
driver sits. This trussing should be of 20-gauge piano wire (music- 
wire gauge) or ro-inch cable, except in the rectangles bounded by 
the large struts, where it should be 25-gauge piano wire or A-inch 
cable. Each wire, of course, should have a turnbuckle. About 100 
of these will be required, either of the spoke type or the regular type, 
with two screw eyes—the latter preferred. 

Transverse squares, formed by the two horizontal and two 
vertical struts at each point, are also trussed with diagonal wires. 
Although turnbuckles are sometimes omitted on these wires, it takes 
considerable skill to get accurate adjustments without them. The 
extreme rear strut to which the rudder is attached, is not fastened in 
the usual way. It should be cut with tongues at top and bottom, 
fitting into notches in the ends of the beams, and the whole bound 
with straps of 20-gauge sheet steel, bolted through the beams with 
f-inch bolts. 

Continuing forward, the struts have no peculiarity until the 
upper horizontal one is reached, just behind the driver’s seat. As it 
is impossible to truss the quadrangle forward of this strut, owing to 
the position of the driver’s body, the strut is braced with a u-shaped 
half-round strip of J by 1 inch of ash or hickory bolted to the beams 
at the sides and to the strut at the rear, with two f-inch bolts at each 
point. The front side of the strut should be left square where this 
brace is in contact with it. The brace should be steam bent with the 


62 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


curves on a 9-inch radius, and the half-round side on the inside of 
the curve. 

The vertical struts just forward of the driver’s seat carry the 
inner ends of the rear wing beams. Each beam is attached with a 
single bolt, giving the necessary freedom to rock up and down in 
warping the wings. The upper 6 inches of each of these struts fits 
into a socket designed to reinforce it. In the genuine Bleriot, this 
socket is an aluminum casting. However, a socket which many would 
regard as even better can be made from a 7-inch length of 20-gauge 
11-inch square tubing. One end of the tube is sawed one inch through 
the corners; two opposite sides are then bent down at right angles to 
form flanges, and the other two sides sawed off. A 1- by 3-inch strip 
of 20-gauge sheet steel, brazed across the top and flanges completes 
the socket. With a little care, a very creditable socket can be made 
in this way. Finally, with the strut in place, a f-inch hole is drilled 
through 4 inches from the top of the socket for the bolt securing the 
wing beam. 

The upper horizontal strut at this point should be arched about 
six inches to give plenty of elbow room over the steering wheel. 
The bending should be done in a steam press. The strut should be 
1^ inches square, cut sufficiently long to allow for the curve, and 
fitted at the ends with sockets as described above, but set at an angle 
by sawing the square tube down further on one side than on the other. 

On the two lower beams, is laid a floor of half-inch boards, 
extending one foot forward and one foot back of the center line of the 
horizontal strut. This floor may be of spruce, if it is desired to save 
a little weight, or of ordinary tongue-and-grooved floor boards, 
fastened to the beams with wood screws or bolts. The horizontal 
strut under this floor may be omitted, but its presence adds but little 
weight and completes the trussing. Across the top of the fuselage 
above the first upper horizontal strut, lies a steel tube which forms 
the sockets for the inner end of the front wing beams. This tube is 
1} inches diameter, 18 gauge, and 26} inches long. It is held fast by 
two steel straps, 16 gauge and 1 inch wide, clamped down by the nuts 
of the vertical strut u-bolts. The center of the tube is, therefore, in 
line with the center of the vertical struts, not the horizontal ones. 
The u-bolts which make this attachment are, of course, the A~inch 
size, and one inch longer on each end than usual. To make a neat 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


63 


job, the tube may be seated in wood blocks, suitably shaped, but 
these must not raise it more than a small fraction of an inch above 
the top of the fuselage, as this would increase the angle of incidence 
of the wings. 

The first vertical struts on each side are extras, without cor¬ 
responding horizontal ones; they serve only to support the engine. 
When the Gnome motor is used, its central shaft is carried at the 
centers of two x-shaped, pressed-steel frames, one on the front side, 
flush with the end of the fuselage and one on the rear. 

Truss Frame Built on Fuselage. In connection with the fuselage 
may be considered the overhead truss frame and the warping frame. 
The former consists of two inverted v’s of 20-gauge, 1- by f-inch oval 
tubing, joined at their apexes by a 20-gauge, f-inch tube. Each V 
is formed of a single piece of the oval tubing about 5 feet long. The 
flattened ends of the horizontal tube are fastened by a bolt in the 
angles of the v’s. The center of the horizontal tube should be 2 feet 
above the top of the fuselage. The flattened lower ends of the rear V 
should be riveted and brazed to strips of 18-gauge steel, which will 
fit over the bolts attaching the vertical fuselage struts at this point. 
The legs of the front V should be slightly shorter, as they rest on top 
of the wing socket tube. Each should be held down by a single 
A-inch bolt, passing through the upper wall of the tube and its 
retaining strap; these bolts also serve the purpose of preventing the 
tube from sliding out from under the strap. Each side of the frame 
is now braced by diagonal wires (No. 20 piano wire, or A-inch cable) 
with turnbuckles. 

At the upper corners of this frame are attached the wires which 
truss the upper sides of the wings. The front wires are simply 
fastened under the head and nut of the bolt which holds the frame, 
together at this corner. The attachment of the rear wires, however, 
is more complex, as these wires must run over pulleys to allow for 
the rocking of the rear wing beams when the wings are warped. To 
provide a suitable place for the pulleys, the angle of the rear V is 
enclosed by two plates of 20-gauge sheet steel, one on the front and 
one on the rear, forming a triangular box 1 inch thick fore and aft, 
and about 2 inches on each side, only the bottom side being open. 
These plates are clamped together by a A-inch steel bolt, on which 
are mounted the pulleys. There should be sufficient clearance for 


64 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


pulleys 1 inch in diameter. The wires running over these pulleys 
must then pass through holes drilled in the tube. The holes should 
not be drilled until the wings are on, when the proper angle for them 
can be seen. The cutting and bending of the steel plates is a matter 
of some difficulty, and should not be done until the frame is otherwise 
assembled, so that paper patterns can be cut for them. They should 
have flanges bent around the tube, secured by the bolts which hold 
the frame together, to keep them from slipping off. 

The oval tubing is used in the vertical parts of this frame, 
principally to reduce the wind resistance, being placed with the 
narrow side to the front. However, if this tubing be difficult to 
obtain, or if price is a consideration, no harm will be done by 
using f-inch round tubing. Beneath the floor of the driver’s cockpit 
in the fuselage is the warping frame, the support for the wires which 
truss the rear wing beams and also control the warping. 

This frame is built up of four f-inch, 20-gauge steel tubes, each 
about 3 feet long, forming an inverted, 4-sided pyramid. The front 
and back pairs of tubes are fastened to the lower fuselage beams with 
i^-inch bolts at points 15 inches front and back of the horizontal 
strut. At their lower ends the tubes are joined by a fixture which 
carries the pulleys for the warping wires and the lever by which the 
pulleys are turned. In the genuine Bleriot, this fixture is a special 
casting. However, a very neat connection can be made with a piece 
of rg-inch steel stock, If by 6 inches, bent into a u-shape with the 
legs 1 inch apart inside. The flattened ends of the tubes are riveted 
and brazed to the outside upper corners of the u , and a bolt to carry 
the pulleys passes through the lower part, high enough to give clear¬ 
ance for 2-inch pulleys. This frame needs no diagonal wires. 

Running Gear. Passing now to the running gear, the builder 
will encounter the most difficult part of the entire machine, and it is 
impossible to avoid the use of a few special castings. The general 
plan of the running gear is shown in the drawing of the complete 
machine, Figs. 23 and 24, while some of the details are illustrated 
in Fig. 27, and the remainder are given in the detail sheet, Fig. 28. 
It will be seen that each of the two wheels is carried in a double fork, 
the lower fork acting simply as a radius rod, while the upper fork is 
attached to a slide which is free to move up and down on a 2-inch 
steel tube. This slide is held down by two tension springs, consisting 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


65 


of either rubber tubes or steel coil springs, which absorb the shocks 
of landing. The whole construction is such that the wheels are free 
to pivot sideways around the tubes, so that when landing in a quarter¬ 
ing wind the wheels automatically adjust themselves to the direction 
of the machine. 

Framework. The main framework of the running gear consists 
of two horizontal beams, two vertical struts, and two vertical tubes. 
The beams are of ash, 4f inches wide in the middle half, tapering to 
3J inches at the ends, and 5 feet 2f inches long overall. The upper 
beam is If inch thick and the lower 1 inch. The edges of the beams 
are rounded off except at the points where they are drilled for bolt 
holes for the attachment of other parts. The two upper beams of 
the fuselage rest on these beams and are secured to them by two 
A-inch bolts each. 

The vertical struts are also of ash, lA inch by 3 inches and 
4 feet 2 inches long overall. They have tenons at each end which fit 
into corresponding square holes in the horizontal beams. The two 
lower fuselage beams are fastened to these struts by two A-inch 
through bolts and steel angle plates formed from A-inch sheet steel. 
The channel section member across the front sides of these struts is 
for the attachment of the motor, and will be taken up later. The 
general arrangement at this point depends largely on what motor is 
to be used, and the struts should not be rounded or drilled for bolt 
holes until this has been decided. 

From the lower ends of these struts CC, Fig. 27, diagonal struts 
DD run back to the fuselage. These are of ash, lA by 2f inches 
and 2 feet 6 inches long. The rear ends of the struts I)D are fastened 
to the fuselage beams by the projecting ends of the U-bolts of the 
horizontal fuselage struts, and also by angle plates of sheet steel. 
At the lower front ends the struts DD are fastened to the struts CC 
and the beam E by steel angle plates, and the beam is reinforced by 
other plates on its under side. 

Trussing. In the genuine Bleriot, the framework is trussed by 
a single length of steel tape, If by A inch and about 11 feet long, 
fastened to U-bolts in the beam A, Fig. 27. This tape runs down 
one side, under the beam E, and up the other side, passing through 
the beam in two places, where suitable slots must be cut. The tape 
is not made in this country, but must be imported at considerable 




Details of Bleriot Running Gear 































































































































































Fig. 28. Details of Various Fittings for Bleriot Monoplane 














































































































































































































68 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


expense. Ordinary sheet steel will not do. If the tape can not be 
obtained, a good substitute is J-inch cable, which then would be made 
in two pieces and fastened to eye bolts at each end. 

The two steel tubes are 2 inches in diameter, 18-gauge, and about 
4 feet 10 inches long. At their lower ends they are flattened, but 
cut away so that a 2-inch ring will pass over them. To these flat¬ 
tened ends are attached springs and wires which run from each tube 
across to the hub of the opposite wheel. The purpose of these is 
simply to keep the wheels normally in position behind the tubes. 
The tubes, it will be noticed, pass through the lower beam, but are 
sunk only J inch into the upper beam. They are held in place by 
sheet-steel sockets on the lower side of the upper beam and the upper 
side of the lower beam. The other sides of the beams are provided 
with flat plates of sheet steel. The genuine Bleriot has these sockets 
stamped out of sheet steel, but as the amateur builder will not have 
the facilities for doing this, an alternative construction is given here. 

In this method, the plates are cut out to pattern, the material 
being sheet steel A inch thick, and a J-inch hole drilled through the 
center, a 2-inch circle then being drawn around this. Then, with a 
cold chisel a half dozen radial cuts are made between the hole and 
the circle. Finally this part of the plate is heated with a blow-torch 
and a 2-inch piece of pipe driven through, bending up the triangular 
corners. These bent up corners are then brazed to the tubes, and a 
strip of light sheet steel is brazed on to cover up the sharp edges. 
Of course, the brazing should not be done until the slides GG, Figs. 
27 and 28, have been put on. When these are once in place, they 
have to stay on and a breakage of one of them, means the replace¬ 
ment of the tube as well. This is a fault of the Bleriot design that 
can not well be avoided. It should be noticed that the socket at the 
upper end, as well as its corresponding plate on the other side of the 
beam, has extensions which reinforce the beam where the eye bolts 
or U-bolts for the attachment of the steel tape pass through. 

Forks. Next in order are the forks which carry the wheels. 
The short forks JJ , Figs. 27 and 28, which act simply as radius 
rods, are made of 1- by f-inch oval tubing, a stock size which was 
specified for the overhead truss frame. It will be noticed that these 
are in two parts, fastened together with a bolt at the front end. 
The regular Bleriot construction calls for forged steel eyes to go in 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


69 


the ends of tubes, but these will be hard to obtain. The construction 
shown in the drawings is much simpler. The ends of the tubes are 
heated and flattened until the walls are about A inch apart inside. 
Then a strip of A-inch sheet steel is cut the right width to fit in the 
flattened end of the tube, and brazed in place. The bolt holes then 
pass through the combined thickness of the tube and the steel strip, 
giving a better bearing surface, which may be further increased by 
brazing on a washer. 

The long forks FF, which transmit the landing shocks to the 
springs, are naturally made of heavier material. The proper size 
tubing for them is If by f inches, this being the nearest equivalent 
to the 14 by 28 mm French tubing. However, this is not a stock 
size in this country and can only be procured by order, or it can 
be made by rolling out tf-inch round tubing. If the oval tubing 
can not be secured, the round can be employed instead, other parts 
being modified to correspond. The ends are reinforced in the same 
way as described for the small forks. 

These forks are strengthened by aluminum clamps II, Figs. 27 
and 28, which keep the tubes from spreading apart. Here, of 
course, is another call for special castings, but a handy workman 
may be able to improvise a satisfactory substitute from sheet steel. 
On each tube there are four fittings: At the bottom, the collar M 
to which the fork J is attached, and above, the slide G and the clamps 
K and L, which limit its movement. The collar and slide should be 
forged, but as this may be impossible, the drawings have been pro¬ 
portioned for castings. The work is simple and may be done by the 
amateur with little experience. The projecting studs are pieces of 
f-inch, 14-gauge steel tubing screwed in tight and pinned, though if 
these parts be forged, the studs should be integral. 

The clamps which limit the movement of the slides are to be 
whittled out of ash or some other hard wood. The upper clamp is 
held in place by four bolts, which are screwed up tight; but when 
the machine makes a hard landing the clamp will yield a little and 
slip up the tube, thus deadening the shock. After such a landing, 
the clamps should be inspected and again moved down a bit, if 
necessary. The lower clamps, which, of course, only keep the wheels 
from hanging down too far, have bolts passing clear through the tubes. 

To the projecting lugs on the slides GG are attached the rubber 


70 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


tube springs, the lower ends connecting with eye bolts through the 
beam E. These rubber tubes, of which four will be needed, are being 
made by several companies in this country and are sold by supply 
houses. They should be about 14 inches long, unstretched, and 
If inches in diameter, with steel tips at the ends for attachment. 

Hub Attachments. The hubs of the two wheels are connected 
with the link P, with universal joints NN at each end. In case the 
machine lands while drifting sidewise, the wheel which touches the 
ground first will swing around to head in the direction in which the 
machine is actually moving, and the link will cause the other wheel 
to assume a parallel position; thus the machine can run diagonally 
on the ground without any tendency to upset. 

This link is made of the same 1- by f-inch oval tubing used 
elsewhere in the machine. In the original Bleriot, the joints are 
carefully made up with steel forgings. But joints which will serve 
the purpose can be improvised from a 1-inch cube of hard wood and 
three steel straps, as shown in the sketch, Fig. 27. From each of 
these joints a wire runs diagonally to the bottom of the tube on the 
other side, with a spring which holds the wheel in its normal position. 
This spring should be either a rubber tube, like those described above, 
but smaller, or a steel coil spring. In the latter case, it should be 
of twenty f-inch coils of No. 25 piano wire. 

Wheels. The wheels are regularly 28 by 2 inches, corresponding 
to the 700 by 50 mm French size, with 3G spokes of 12-gauge wire. 
The hub should be 5| inches wide, with a f-inch bolt. Of course, 
these sizes need not be followed exactly, but any variations will 
involve corresponding changes in the dimensions of the forks. The 
long fork goes on the hub inside of the short fork, so that the inside 
measurement of the end of the big fork should correspond to the 
width of the hub, and the inside measurement of the small fork 
should equal the outside measurement of the large fork. 

Rear Skid. Several methods are employed for supporting the rear 
end of the fuselage when the machine is on the ground. The first Ble¬ 
riot carried a small wheel in a fork provided with rubber springs, the 
same as the front wheels. The later models, however, have a double 
U-shaped skid, as shown in Figs. 23 and 24. This skid is made of 
two 8-foot strips of ash or hickory \ by f inches, steamed and bent 
to the u-shape as shown in the drawing of the comolete machine. 


-„r/ —-f -—.,€/ 


\ 

J 

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Fig. 29. Details of Framework of Bleriot Main Supporting Planes 




























































































72 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


Wings. Having completed the fuselage and running gear, the 
wings are next in order. These are constructed in a manner which 
may seem unnecessarily complicated, but which gives great strength 
for comparatively little weight. Each wing contains two stout ash 
beams which carry their share of the weight of the machine, and 
12 ribs which give the proper curvature to the surfaces and at the 
same time reinforce the beams. These ribs in turn are tied together 
and reinforced by light strips running parallel to the main beams. 

In the drawing of the complete wing, Fig. 29, the beams are 
designated by the letters B and E. A is a sheet aluminum member 
intended to hold the cloth covering in shape on the front edge. C, D, 
and F are pairs of strips (one strip on top, the other underneath) 
which tie the ribs together. G is a strip along the rear edge, and H 



Fig. 30. Complete Rib of Bleriot Wing and Pattern from Which Web Is Cut 

is a bent strip which gives the rounded shape to the end of the wing. 
The ribs are designated by the numbers 1 to 12 inclusive. 

Ribs. The first and most difficult operation is to make the ribs. 
These are built up of a spruce board ^ inch thick, cut to shape on 
a jig saw, with by f-inch spruce strip stacked and glued to the 
upper and lower edges. Each rib thus has an I-beam section, such 
as is used in structural steel work and automobile front axles. Each 
of the boards, or webs as they are usually called, is divided into three 
parts by the main beams which pass through it. Builders sometimes 
make the mistake of cutting out each web in three pieces, but this 
makes it very difficult to put the rib together accurately. Each web 
should be cut out of a single piece, as shown in the detail drawing, 
Fig. 30, and the holes for the beams should be cut in after the top 
and bottom strips have been glued on. 



























































BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


73 


The detail drawing, Fig. 30, gives the dimensions of a typical 
rib. This should be drawn out full size on a strip of tough paper, 
and then a margin of ^ inch should be taken off all round except at 
the front end where the sheet aluminum member A goes on. This 
allows for the thickness of the top and bottom strips. In preparing 
the pattern for the jig saw, the notches for strips C, D, and F should 
be disregarded; neither should it be expected that the jig-saw 
operator will cut out the oval holes along the center of the web, 
which are simply to lighten it. The notches for the front ends of the 
top and bottom strips should also be smoothed over in the pattern. 

When the pattern is ready, a saw or planing mill provided with 
a saw suitable for the work, should cut out the 40 ribs (allowing a 
sufficient number for defective pieces and breakage) for about $2. 
The builder then cuts the notches and makes the oval openings with 
an auger and keyhole saw. Of course, these holes need not be 
absolutely accurate, but at least f inch of wood should be left all 
around them. 

Nine of the twelve ribs in each wing are exactly alike. No. 1, 
which forms the inner end of the wing, does not have any holes cut 
in the web, and instead of the slot for the main beam R, has a lf-inch 
round hole, as the stub end of the beam is rounded to fit the socket 
tube. (See Fig. 23.) Rib No. 11 is 5 feet 10§ inches long, and No. 12 
is 3 feet long. These can be whittled out by hand, and the shape for 
them will be obvious as soon as the main part of the wing is put 
together. 

The next step is to glue on the top and bottom strips. The 
front ends should be put on first and held, during the drying, in a 
screw clamp, the ends setting close up into the notches provided for 
them. Thin J-inch brads should be driven in along the top and 
bottom at 1- to 2-inch intervals. The rear ends of the strips should 
be cut off to the proper length and whittled off a little on the inside, 
so that there will be room between them for the strip G, \ inch thick. 
Finally, cut the slots for the main beams, using a bit and brace and 
the keyhole saw, and the ribs will be ready to assemble. 

Beams and Strips. The main beams are of ash, the front beam 
in each wing being 3J by f inches and the rear beam 2J by f inches. 
They are not exactly rectangular but must be planed down slightly 
on the top and bottom edges, so that they will fit into the irregularly- 


74 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


shaped slots left for them in the ribs. The front beams, as mentioned 
above, have round stubs which fit into the socket tube on the fusel¬ 
age. These stubs may be made by bolting short pieces of ash board 
on each side of the end of the beam and rounding down the whole. 

To give the wings their slight inclination, or dihedral angle, 
which will be apparent in the front view of the machine, the stubs 
must lie at an angle of 2\ degrees with the beam itself. This angle 
should be laid out very carefully, as a slight inaccuracy at this point 
will result in a much larger error at the tips. The rear beams project 
about 2 inches from the inner ribs. The ends should be reinforced 
with bands of sheet steel to prevent splitting, and each drilled with 
a f-inch hole for the bolt which attaches to the fuselage strut. A 
strip of heavy sheet steel should be bent to make an angle washer 
to fill up the triangular space between the beam and the strut; the 
bolt hole should be drilled perpendicularly to the beam, and not to 
the strut. The outer ends of the beams, beyond rib No. 10, taper 
down to 1 inch deep at the ends. 

The aluminum member A, Fig. 29, which holds the front edge 
of the wing in shape, is made of a 4-inch strip of fairly heavy sheet 
aluminum, rolled into shape round a piece of half-round wood, 2J 
inches in diameter. As sheet aluminum usually comes in 6-foot 
lengths, each of these members will have to be made in two sections, 

joined either by soldering (if the builder has mastered this difficult 

% 

process) or by a number of small copper rivets. 

No especial difficulties are presented by the strips, C, I ), and F, 
which are of spruce by | inch, or by the rear edge strip G, of spruce 
| by 1J inches. Each piece II should be 1 by J inch half-round 
spruce, bent into shape, fitted into the aluminum piece at the front, 
and at the rear flattened down to \ inch and reinforced by a small 
strip glued to the back, finally running into the strip G. The exact 
curve of this piece does not matter, provided it is the same on both 
wings. 

Assembling the Wings. Assembling the wings is an operation 
which demands considerable care. The main beams should first be 
laid across two horses, set level so that there will be no strain on the 
framework as it is put together. Then the 12 ribs should be slipped 
over the beams and evenly spaced 13 inches apart to centers, care 
being taken to see that each rib stands square with the beams, Fig. 31. 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


75 


The ribs are not glued to the beams, as this would make repairs 
difficult, but are fastened with small nails. 

Strips C, D, and F, Fig. 29, are next put in place, simply being 
strung through the rows of holes provided for them in the ribs, and 
fastened with brads. Then spacers of ^-inch spruce, 2 or 3 inches 
long, are placed between each pair of strips halfway between each 
rib, and fastened with glue and brads. This can be seen in the 
broken-off view of the wing in the front view drawing, Fig. 23. 
The rear edge strip fits between the ends of the top and bottom 



Fig. 31. Assembling the Main Planes of a Bleriot Monoplane 

strips of the ribs, as mentioned above, fastened with brads oi with 

strips of sheet-aluminum tacked on. 

Each wing is trussed by eight wires, half above and half below; 
half attached to the front and half to the rear beam. In the genuine 
Bleriot steel tape is used for the lower trussing of the main beams, 
similar to the tape employed in the running gear, but American 
builders prefer to use J-inch cable. The lower rear trussing should 
be A- or <A-inch cable, and the upper trussing ^-inch. 

The beams are provided with sheet-steel fixtures for the attach¬ 
ment of the cables, as shown in the broken-off wing view, Fig. 23. 
These are cut from fairly-heavy metal, and go in pairs, one on each 























































76 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


side of the and beam, fasten with three A-inch bolts. They have 
lugs top and bottom. They are placed between the fifth and sixth 
and ninth and tenth ribs on each side. 

To resist the backward pressure of the air, the wings are trussed 
with struts of 1-inch spruce and A-incli cable, as shown in Fig. 23. 
The struts are placed between the cable attachments, being provided 
with ferrules of flattened steel tubing arranged to allow the rear beam 
freedom to swing up and down. The diagonal cables are provided 
with turnbuckles and run through the open spaces in the ribs. 

Control System. The steering gear and tail construction of the 
Bleriot are as distinctive as the swiveling wheels and the u-bolts, and 
the word “cloche” applied to the bell-like attachment for the control 
wires, has been adopted into the international vocabulary of aero- 
planing. The driver has between his knees a small steering wheel 
mounted on a short vertical post. This wheel does not turn, but 
instead the post has a universal joint at the bottom which allows it 
to be swung backward and forward or to either side. The post is 
really a lever, and the wheel a handle. Encircling the lower part of 
the post is a hemispherical bell—the cloche—with its bottom edge on 
the same level as the universal joint. 

Four wires are attached to the edge of the cloche. Those 
at the front and back are connected with the elevator, and those at 
the sides with the wing-warping lever. The connections are so 
arranged that pulling the wheel back starts the machine upward, 
while pushing it forward causes it to descend, and pulling to either 
side lowers that side and raises the other. The machine can be kept 
on a level keel by the use of the wheel and cloche alone; the aviator 
uses them just as if they were rigidly attached to the machine, and 
by them he could move the machine bodily into the desired position. 

In practice, however, it has been found that lateral stability can 
be maintained more easily by the use of the vertical rudder than by 
warping. This is because the machine naturally tips inward on a 
turn, and, consequently, a tip can be corrected by a partial turn in 
the other direction. If., for example, the machine tips to the right, 
the aviator steers slightly to the left, and the machine comes back 
to a level keel without any noticeable change in direction. LTnder 
ordinary circumstances this plan is used altogether, and the warping 
is used only on turns and in bad weather. 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


77 


It will be noticed that the Bleriot control system is almost 
identical with that of the Henri Farman biplane, the only difference 
being that in the Farman the cloche and wheel are replaced by a 
long lever. The movements, however, remain the same, and as there 
are probably more Bleriot and Farman machines in use than all other 
makes together, this control may be regarded almost as a standard. 
It is not as universal as the steering wheel, gear shift, and brake 
levers of the automobile, but still it is a step in the right direction. 



In the genuine Bleriot, the cloche is built up of two bells, one 
inside the other, both of sheet aluminum about A inch thick. The 
outer bell is 11 inches in diameter and 3J inches deep, and the inner 
one 10 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. A ring of hard wood 
is clamped between their edges and the steering column, an aluminum 
casting passing through their centers. This construction is so com¬ 
plicated and requires so many special castings and parts that it is 
almost impossible for the amateur. 


























































78 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


Steering Gear. While not so neat, the optional construction 
shown in the accompanying drawing, Fig. 32, is equally effective. 
In this plan, the cloche is replaced by four V-shaped pieces of J-inch, 
20-gauge steel tubing, attached to a steering post of 1-inch, 20-gauge 
tubing. At the lower end, the post has a fork, made of pieces of 
smaller tubing bent and brazed into place, and this fork forms part 
of the universal joint on which the post is mounted. The cross of 
the universal joint, which is somewhat similar to those employed on 
automobiles, can best be made of two pieces of heavy tubing, \ inch 
by 12 gauge, each cut half away at the middle. The two pieces are 
then fastened together by a small bolt and brazed for greater security. 
The ends which are to go into the fork of the steering post must then 
be tapped for f-inch machine screws. The two other ends of the 
cross are carried on V’s of §-inch, 20-gauge tubing, spread far enough 
apart at the bottom to make a firm base, and bolted to the floor of 
the cockpit. 

The steering wheel itself is comparatively unimportant. On 
the genuine Bleriot it is a solid piece of wood 8 inches in diameter, 
with two holes cut in it for hand grips. On the post just under the 
wheel are usually placed the spark and throttle levers. It is rather 
difficult, however, to arrange the connections for these levers in such 
a way that they will not be affected by the movements of the post, 
and for this reason many amateur builders place the levers at one 
side on one of the fuselage beams. 

From the sides of the cloche, or from the tubing triangles which 
may be substituted for it, two heavy wires run straight down to the 
ends of the warping lever. This lever, together with two pulleys, 
is mounted at the lower point of the warping frame already described. 
The lever is 12 inches long, 11 inches between the holes at its ends, 
and 2 inches wide in the middle; it should be cut from a piece of 
sheet steel about inch thick. The pulleys should be 2§ inches in 
diameter, one of them bolted to the lever, the other one running 
free. The wires from the outer ends of the rear wing beams are 
joined by a piece of flexible control cable, which is given a single 
turn over the free pulley. The inner wires, however, each have a 
piece of flexible cable attached to their ends, and these pieces of 
cable, after being given a turn round the other pulley, are made fast 
to the opposite ends of the warping lever. These cables should be 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


79 


run over the pulleys, not under, so that when the cloche is pulled 
to the right, the left wing will be warped downward. 

It is a common mistake to assume that both pulleys are fastened 
to the warping lever; but when this is done the outer wire slackens 
off and does not move in accord with the inner wire, on account of 
the different angles at which they work. 

Foot Levers . The foot lever for steering is cut from a piece of 
wood 22 inches long, hollowed out at the ends to form convenient 
rests for the feet. The wires connecting the lever to the rudder may 
either be attached to this lever direct, or, if a neater construction is 
desired, thev mav be attached to another lever under the floor of the 
cockpit. In the latter case, a short piece of 1-inch steel tubing serves 
as a vertical shaft to connect the two levers, which are fastened to 
the shaft by means of aluminum sockets such as may be obtained 
from any supply house. The lower lever is 12 inches long and 2 
inches wide, cut from A-inch steel similar to the warping lever. 

Amateur builders often cross the rudder wires so that pressing 
the lever to the right will cause the machine to steer to the left. 
This may seem more natural at first glance, but it is not the Bleriot 
wav. In the latter, the wires are not crossed, the idea being to 
facilitate the use of the vertical rudder for maintaining lateral equi¬ 
librium. With this arrangement, pressing the lever with the foot on 
the high side of the machine tends to bring it back to an even keel. 

Tail and Elevator. The tail and elevator planes are built up 
with ribs and tie strips in much the same manner as the wings. 
However, it will hardly pay to have these ribs cut out on a jig saw 
unless the builder can have this work done very cheaply. It serves 
the purpose just as well to clamp together a number of strips of 
A-inch spruce and plane them down by hand. The ribs when 
• finished should be 24J inches long. The greatest depth of the curve 
is 1J inches, at a point one-third of the way back from the front 
edge, and the greatest depth of the ribs themselves 2\ inches, at the 
same point. Sixteen ribs are required. 

A steel tube 1 inch by 20 gauge, C, Fig. 33, runs through both 
tail and elevators, and is the means of moving the latter. Each rib 
at the point where the tube passes through, is provided with an 
aluminum socket. Those on the tail ribs act merely as bearings 
for the tube, but those on the elevator ribs arc bolted fast, so that 


- 2 '-! 




Fig. 33. Construction Details of Bleriot Tail, Elevators, and Rudder 












































































































































































BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


81 


the elevators must turn with the tube. At its center the tube carries 
a lever G, of A^-inch steel 12 by 2 inches, fastened on by two aluminum 
sockets, one on each side. From the top of the lever a wire runs to 
the front side of the cloche, and from the bottom a second wire runs 
to the rear side of the cloche. 

The tube is carried in two bearings IIII, attached to the lower 
beams of the fuselage. These are simply blocks of hard wood, 
fastened by steel strips and bolts. The angle of incidence of the 
tail is adjustable, the tail itself being held in place by two vertical 
strips of steel rising from the rear edge and bolted to the fuselage, 
as shown in the drawing, Fig. 33. To prevent the tail from folding 
up under the air pressure to which it is subjected, it is reinforced 
by two f-inch, 20-gauge steel tubes running down from the upper 
sides of the fuselage, as shown in the drawing of the complete machine, 


Fig. 23. 

The tail and elevators have two pairs of tie strips, B and I), 
Fig. 33, made of by f-inch spruce. The front edge A is half 
round, 1- by J-incli spruce, and the rear edge E is a spruce strip 
J- by 1 ^-inches. The end pieces are curved. 

Rudder. The rudder is built up on a piece of 1-inch round 
spruce M, corresponding in a way to the steel tube used for the 
elevators. On this are mounted two long ribs KK, and a short rib 
J, made of spruce f inch thick and If inches wide at the point where 
M passes through them. They are fastened to M with J-inch through 
bolts. The rudder lever N, of A>-inch steel, 12 by 2 inches, is laid 
flat on J and bolted in place; it is then trussed by wires running 
from each end to the rear ends of KK. From the lever other wires 
also run forward to the foot lever which controls the rudder. 

The wires to the elevator and rudder should be of the flexible 
cable specially made for this purpose, and should be supported by 
fairleaders attached to the fuselage struts. Fairleaders of different 
designs may be procured from supply houses, or may'be improvised. 
Ordinary screw eyes are often used, or pieces of copper tubing, bound 
to the struts with friction tape. 

Covering the Planes. Covering the main planes, tail, elevators, 
and rudder may well be left until the machine is otherwise ready 
for its trial trip, as the cloth will not then be soiled by the dust and 
grime of the shop. The cloth may be any of the standard brands 


82 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 

t 


which are on the market, preferably in a rather light weight made 
specially for double-surfaced machines of this type; or light-weight 
sail cloth may be used, costing only 25 or 30 cents a yard. About 
80 yards will be required, assuming a width of 36 inches. 

Except on the rudder, the cloth is applied on the bias, the idea 
being that with this arrangement the threads act like diagonal truss 
wires, thus strengthening and bracing the framework. When the 
cloth is to be put on in this way it must first be sewed together in 
sheets large enough to cover the entire plane. Each wing will require 



Fig. 34. Method of Mounting Fabric on Main Supporting Frame 

a sheet about 14 feet square, and two sheets each 6 feet square will 
be required for the elevators and tail. The strips of cloth run 
diagonally across the sheets, the longest strips in the wing sheets 
being 20 feet long. 

Application of the cloth to the wings, Fig. 34, is best begun 
by fastening one edge of a sheet to the rear edge of the wing, stretch¬ 
ing the cloth as tight as can be done conveniently with one hand. 
The cloth is then spread forward over the upper surface of the wing 
and is made fast along the inner end rib. Small copper tacks are 
used, spaced 2 inches apart on the upper side and 1 inch on the 

































BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


83 


lower side. After the cloth has been tacked to the upper sides of 
all the ribs, the wing is turned over and the cloth stretched over 
the lower side. Finally the raw edges arc trimmed off and covered 
with light tape glued down, tape also being glued over all the rows 
of tacks along the ribs, making a neat finish and at the same time 
preventing the cloth from tearing off over the tack heads. 

Installation of Motor. As stated previously, the ideal motor 
for a Bleriot-type machine is short along the crank shaft, as the 
available space in the fuselage is limited, and air-cooled for the same 
reason. Genuine Bleriots are always fitted with one of the special 
types of radial or rotary aeronautic motors, which are always air¬ 
cooled. Next in popularity to these is the two-cylinder, horizontal- 
opposed motor, either air- or water-cooled. However, successful 
machines have been built with standard automobile-type, four- 
cylinder, water-cooled motors, and with four-cylinder, two-cycle, 
aeronautic motors. 

When the motor is water-cooled, there will inevitably be some 
difficulty in finding room for a radiator of sufficient size. One scheme 
is to use twin radiators, one on each side of the fuselage, inside of 
the main frame of the running gear. Another plan is to place the 
radiator underneath the fuselage, using a supplementary water tank 
above the cylinders to facilitate circulation. These two seem to be 
about the only practicable arrangements, as behind the motor the 
radiator would not get enough air, and above it would obstruct the 
view of the operator. 

It is impossible to generalize to much effect about the method 
of supporting the motor in the fuselage, as this must differ with the 
motor. Automobile-type motors will be carried on two heavy ash 
beams, braced by lengths of steel tubing of about 1 inch diameter and 
10 gauge. When the seven-cylinder rotary Gnome motor is used, 
the crank shaft alone is supported; it is carried at the center of two 
X-shaped frames of pressed steel, one in front of and the other behind 
the motor. The three-cylinder Anzani motors are carried on four 
lengths of channel steel bent to fit around the upper and lower por¬ 
tions of the crank case, which is of the motorcycle type. 

Considerable care should be taken to prevent the exhaust from 
blowing back into the operator’s face as this sometimes carries with 
it drops of burning oil, besides disagreeable smoke and fumes. The 


84 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


usual plan is to arrange a sloping dashboard of sheet aluminum so 
as to deflect the gases down under the fuselage. 

The three sections of the fuselage back of the engine section are 
usually covered on the sides and bottom with cloth like that used 
on the wings. Sometimes sheet aluminum is used to cover the 
section between the wing beams. However, those who are just 
learning to operate machines and are a little doubtful about their 
landings often leave off the covering in order to be able to see the 
ground immediately beneath their front wheels. 



New Features. Morane Landing Gear. Although the regular 
Bleriot landing gear already described, has many advantages and 
has been in use with only detail changes for several years, some 
aviators prefer the landing gear of the new Morane monoplane, 
which in other respects closely resembles the Bleriot. This gear, 
Fig. 35, is an adaptation of that long in use on the Henri Farrnan 
and Sommer biplanes, combining skids and wheels with rubber-band 
springs. In case a wheel or spring breaks, whether due to a defect 
or to a rough landing, the skids often save an upset. Besides, the 































































































BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 85 

tension of the springs is usually such that on a rough landing the 
wheels jump up and allow the skids to take the shock; this also 
prevents the excessive rebound of the Bleriot springs under similar 
conditions. 

Another advantage which may have some weight with the 
amateur builder, is that the Morane running gear is much cheaper 
and easier to construct. Instead of the two heavy tubes, the four 
forks of oval tubing, and the many slides, collars, and blocks most 
of them special forgings or castings—the Morane gear simply requires 
two short laminated skids, four ash struts, and some sheet steel. 

The laminated skids are built up of three boards each of §- 
by 2-inch ash, 3| feet long. These must be glued under heavy 
pressure in forms giving the proper curve at the front end. When 
they are taken from the press, three or four J-inch holes should be 
bored at equal distances along the center line and wood pins driven 
in; these help in retaining the curve. The finished size of the skids 
should be If by If inches. 

Four ash struts li by 2\ inches support the fuselage. They 
are rounded off to an oval shape except at the ends, where they 
are attached to the skids and the fuselage beams with clamps of 
R-inch sheet steel. The ends of the struts must be beveled off 
carefully to make a good fit; they spread out 15 degrees from the 
vertical, and the rear pair have a backward slant of oO degrees from 
vertical. 

Additional fuselage struts must be provided at the front end of 
the fuselage to take the place of the struts and beams of the Bleriot 
running gear. The two vertical struts at the extreme fiont end ma\ 
be of the same li- by 2|-inch ash used in the running gear, planed 
down to 1R inches thick to match the thickness of the fuselage 
beams. The horizontal struts should be 1R by 1^ inches. 

The wheels run on the ends of an axle tube, and usually have 
plain bearings. The standard size bore of the hub is R inch, and 
the axle tube should be R inch diameter by 11 gauge. The tube 
also has loosely mounted on it two spools to carry the rubber band 
springs. These are made of 2i~inch lengths of lf-inch tubing, with 
walls of sufficient thickness to make an easy sliding fit on the axle 
tube. To the ends of each length of tube are brazed 2j-inch washers 
of R-ineli steel, completing the spool. 


86 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


The ends of the rubber bands are carried on rollers of f-inch, % 
16-gauge tubing, fastened to the skids by fittings bent up from 
i^-inch sheet steel. Each fitting is bolted to the skid with two 
|-ineh bolts. 

Some arrangement must now be made to keep the axle centered 
under the machine, as the rubber bands will not take any sidewise 
strain. A clamp of heavy sheet steel should be made to fit over the 
axle at its center, and from this heavy wires or cables run to the 
bottom ends of the forward struts. These wires may be provided 
with stiff coil springs, if it is desired to allow a little sidewise move¬ 
ment. 

New Bleriot Inverse Curve Tail. Some of the latest Bleriot 




machines have a new tail which seems to add considerable to their 
speed. It consists of a fixed tail, Fig. 36, nearly as large as the 
old-style tail and elevators combined, with two elevator flaps hinged 
to its rear edge. The peculiarity of these elevators, from which the 
tail gets its name, is that the curve is concave above and convex 
below—at first glance seeming to have been attached upside down. 

In this construction, the 1-inch, 20-gauge tube, which formerly 
passed through the center of the tail, now runs along the rear edge, 
being held on by strips of J- by r^-inch steel bent into u-shape 
and fastened with screws or bolts to the ribs. Similar strips attach 
the elevators to the tube, but these strips are bolted to the tube. 






























































































BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


87 


The construction is otherwise like that previously described. It is 
said that fitting this tail to a Bleriot in place of the old-style tail • 
adds 5 miles an hour to the speed, without any other changes being 
made. 

Another slight change which distinguishes the newer Bleriots is 
in the overhead frame, which now consists of a single inverted V 
instead of two V’s connected by a horizontal tube. The single V 
is set slightly back of the main wing beam, and is higher and, of 
course, of heavier tubing than in the previous construction. Its top 
should stand 2 feet G inches above the fuselage, and the tubing 
should be 1 inch 18 gauge. It also requires four truss wires, two 
running to the front end of the fuselage and two to the struts to 
which the rear wing beams are attached. All of the wires on the 
upper side of the wings converge to one point at the top of this V, 
the wires from the wing beams, of course, passing over pulleys. 

These variations from the form already described may be of 
interest to those who wish to have their machines up-to-date in 
every detail, but they are by no means essential. Hundreds of the 
old-style Bleriots are flying every day and giving perfect satisfaction. 


ART OF FLYING 

Knowledge of the science of aeronautics and ability to fly are 
two totally different things. Long-continued study of the problem 
from its scientific side enabled the Wright Brothers to learn how 
to build a machine that would fly, but it did not teach them how to 
fly with it. That came as the result of persistent attempts at 
flying itself. A study of the theoretic laws of balancing does not 
form a good foundation for learning how to ride a bicycle—practice 
with the actual machine is the only road to success. The best evi¬ 
dence of this is to be found in the fact that several of the most suc¬ 
cessful aviators today have but a slight knowledge of the science of 
aeronautics. They are not particularly well versed in what makes 
flight possible, but they know how to fly because they have learned 
it in actual practice. 

Reference to the early work of the Wright Brothers shows that 
during a period of several years they spent a large part of their time 
in actual experiments in the air, and it was not until these had proved 


88 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


entirely satisfactory that they attempted to build a power-driven 
machine. 

Methods Used in Aviation Schools. Aviation schools are spring¬ 
ing up all over this country and there are a number of well-established 



Fig. 37. Monoplane Dummy Used for Practice in Aviation Schools 


institutions of this kind abroad. 'In the course of instruction, the 
student must first learn the use of the various controls on a dummy 
machine. In the case of an English school, this dummy, Fig. 37, is 
a motorless aeroplane mounted on a universally-jointed support so 



F : g. 38. Aerocycle with Treadle Power for Practice Work 


as to swing about a pivot as desired. This is employed for the pur¬ 
pose of familiarizing the beginner with the means of maintaining 
equilibrium in the air. 








BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


89 


A French school, on the other hand, employs a wingless machine, 
which is otherwise complete, as it consists of a regulation chassis 
with motor and propeller, all steering and elevating controls. On 
this, the student may practice what has come to be familiarly known 
as “grass-cutting,” to his heart’s content, without any danger of 
the machine taking to the air unexpectedly, as has frequently been the 
case where first attempts have been made on a full-fledged machine. 
Usually, most of such attempts result disastrously, often destroying 
in a moment the result of months of work in building the machine. 



Fig. 39. Voisin Biplane with Double Control for Teaching Beginners 


A French aerocycle, Fig. 38, a comparatively inexpensive machine, 
is also useful for practice in balancing and in short, low flights, the 
French apparatus in question may accordingly be considered an 
advance, not only over the English machine, even of the type shown 
in Fig. 39, which has a double control, and is especially designed for 
the teaching of beginners, but very much over the practice of attempt¬ 
ing to actually fly for the first time in a strange machine, as it pro¬ 
vides the necessary practice in the handling of the motor and the 
lateral steering. The machine can miake high speed over the ground, 




90 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


but is perfectly safe for the beginner, as it is incapable of rising. Hav¬ 
ing gone through the stages represented by either of these con¬ 
trivances, the best course for the learner to follow is to try gliding, 
taking short glides to attain the ability to quickly meet varying con¬ 
ditions of the atmosphere. 

The fact that these glides are of extremely short duration at first 
need not be discouraging when it is recalled that, after several years 
of work, the Wright Brothers considered that great progress had 
been made when, in 1902, they were able to make glides of 26 seconds. 
During six days of the practice season of that year, they made 375 
gliding flights of various distances, most of them comparatively 
short, but each one of value in familiarizing the glider with the con¬ 
ditions to be met. It is not material whether gliding or manipulation 
of the control levers is taken up first, as both should be mastered as 
far as possible before attempting to fly a regular machine. 

Use of the Elevating Plane. So many things are necessary to 
the control of an aeroplane that thinking becomes entirely too slow 
a process—the aviator must be endowed with something approaching 
the instinct of the bird; he must be so familiar with his machine and 
its peculiarities that a large part of the work of controlling it is the 
result of subconscious movement. The control levers of many 
machines are so arranged that this subconscious movement on the 
part of the aviator directly operates the balancing mechanism. 
There is no time to think. When a machine rises from the ground, 
facing the wind as it should, its path of flight should be a gradual 
upward inclination, this being something difficult to accomplish at 
first, owing to the sensitiveness of the elevating rudder, the tendency 
almost invariably being to give the latter too great an angle of 
incidence. At this stage, the maximum velocity of flight has not yet 
been attained and care must be taken to keep the angle of ascent 
small. Otherwise, the power of the engine, which may not have 
reached its maximum, would not be sufficient to cause the machine 
to ascend an inclined path at the starting speed. If the speed of 
flight be reduced by the increased resistance at this point, the whole 
machine will slide back in the air, and if a sudden gust of wind happens 
to coincide with the attempt to rise at too great an angle, there is 
danger of it being blown over backward. 

Where the machine is just leaving the ground and the elevator 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


91 


has been set at an excessive angle, the rear end of the skids or the 
tail may slap the ground hard and break off, or they will impose so 
much resistance upon its movement by scraping over the turf that 
the machine can not attain its soaring speed. It must be borne in 
mind, of course, that remarks such as the present can be only of the 
most general nature, every type of machine having its own peculiar¬ 
ities—in some instances, the extreme opposite of those characterizing 
similar machines. For example, in the Voisin 1910 type, the very 
large and powerful light tail tends to lift before the main planes, 
and if this be not counteracted, the whole machine may turn up on 
its end. In order to offset this tendency, the elevator must be raised 
so as to keep sufficient pressure beneath it; the moment of this pres¬ 
sure about the center of gravity must be at least equal to the pressure 
under the tail planes about the center of gravity of the machine, or 
the tail will rise unduly in the air. At least that is the theory of it 
naturally, only practice with that particular machine would suffice 
to enable an aviator to familiarize himself with that particular 
peculiarity. Again, some machines are “tail heavy.” But there is 
great difficulty in even approximating the degree of relative motion, 
for which reason it has been suggested, under Accidents and Iheii 
Lessons,” that a gradometer, or small spirit level, in plain sight of 
the aviator, should form part of the equipment of every machine. 
The Wrights long ago adopted the expedient of attaching a strip of 
ribbon to the elevator to provide an indication of motion relative 


to the wind. 

Aeroplane in Flight. The sensation of motion after the machine 
leaves the ground is almost imperceptible, and it is likewise extremely 
difficult to tell at just what moment the aeroplane ceases running 
on the solid ground and takes to the air. 4 here is a feeling of exhilara¬ 
tion but very little of motion. Whereas 40 miles an hour over the 
ground, particularly in an automobile, brings with it a lively appre¬ 
ciation of the speed of travel, the same speed in an aeroplane is a 
very gentle motion when high above the ground. If there be no 
objects close at hand, with which to compare the speed, the sense of 
motion is almost entirely lost. 

Center of Gravity. The static balance of a machine should be 
carefully tried before commencing to fly, and particularly that of a 
biplane of the Wright type, in which the aviator sits beside the engine. 


92 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


When provision is made for carrying a passenger, his seat is placed 
in the center line of the machine, so that his presence or absence 
does not materially affect the question of lateral balance. As men 
are not all of the same weight, in cases in which the aviator only 
partly balances the engine about the center line, his weight being 
insufficient for the purpose, extra weights should be placed on the 
wing tip at the lightest end until the true balance is secured, other¬ 
wise a permanent warping, or gauchissement as the French term it, 
is required at this side in order to keep the machine on an even keel. 
In other words, the machine will carry what sailors term a port helm 
where the left side of the machine is lighter than the right, and vice 
versa, and it will be necessary to keep the rudder over to that side 
slightly during the entire flight to counteract this tendency. 

In aeroplanes fitted with tails, the center of gravity is usually 
in the vicinity of the trailing edge of the main planes and, of course, 
should be on the center line of the machine. The center of gravity 
of the aviator on a monoplane should approximately coincide with 
that of the machine. If this be not the case, the stabilizers or the 
elevator must be permanently set to produce longitudinal balance. 
Much downward set, or the increase of the angle of incidence of the 
tail, will create undue resistance to flight and should be avoided when 
possible by bringing the weight farther forward. The center of pres¬ 
sure should coincide with the center of gravity, and balance will 
result. 

Before even ground work is attempted, the position of the 
center of gravity should be determined in the manner shown in Fig. 
40, the approximate location for four types of machines being shown. 
At what point the machine must be suspended, so that it can tip only 
frontward and backward and be evenly balanced, is a question that 
must be answered in order to ascertain the probability of the machine’s 
pitching forward whenever mud, grass, or rough ground is encoun¬ 
tered in alighting. If the center of gravity should lie in front of the 
axles of the ground wheels in a machine of the Farman type, trouble 
is sure to follow. Always consider the relation of the center of gravity 
to the wheels, in order that you may gain some idea of the distribu¬ 
tion of the weight on the running gear when the machine is tipped 
forward 10 degrees. If the wheels are not forward far enough there 
will be trouble in running on the ground. The elevators must correct 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


93 


whatever variance there may be from the correct center of gravity 
and position of the wheels, and the manipulation of the elevators for 
that purpose requires skill. If the tail be very heavy, the elevator 
may not be able to counteract that defect. 

The position of the center of gravity of a machine in regard to 
lateral stability in flight is a matter of far greater importance than 
untried aviators realize. Having it too low is quite as bad as too high, 
as in either case there is a tendency to upset. Although the dihedral 
angle is considered wasteful of power, it seems to do more to secure 
inherent stability than any other device. Devices for maintaining 
stability automatically are to be frowned upon in the present state 



of the art. The sensitive perception and quick response which come 
with intimate knowledge of a machine’s peculiarities, are at present 
worth more than gyroscopes and pendulums. To acquire this 
intimate knowledge, the aviator must familiarize himself thoroughly 
with the machine; he must become so accustomed to controls that 
he and the machine are literally one. A practiced bicycle rider does 
not have to think about balance, neither does the practiced aviator, 
yet he must always be prepared to meet motor stoppages, unusual 
air disturbances, and breakages. A leap from the ground directly 
into the air, without preliminary practice, means certain accident, 
to put it mildly. 








































94 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


Center of Pressure. But although the center of gravity remains 
approximately constant, the center of pressure is continually vary¬ 
ing and is never constant for many seconds. The center of pressure 
on an aerocurve constructed to Phillips’ design, Fig. 41, is about 
one-third of the chord from the leading edge of the plane under normal 
conditions, i. e., when the angle of incidence is about 8 degrees between 
the direction of motion of the plane and that of the air. At the 
moment this angle is increased the center of pressure moves toward 
the rear, and vice versa. The center of gravity must be moved to 
coincide with this new position, or the center of pressure must be 
artificially restored by the use of supplementary planes or elevators, 
moving in a contrary direction. A forward movement of the center of 
pressure tends to lower the tail of the machine, when the intensity of 
the pressure is unchanged, and to counterbalance this the rear elevator 
must have its angle of incidence increased in order to increase the 
lift at the rear of the machine, or it will slide down backward. The 
alternative to be adopted in case of temporary lack of engine power 
is to decrease the angle of the elevator and allow the aeroplane to 
sweep downward, thus gaining momentum. The increase of speed 

will then be sufficient probably 
to enable the machine to con¬ 
tinue in a horizontal flight, 
when the center of pressure is 
again restored to its normal 
position. 

Ground Practice. First of all, the aviator should familiarize 
himself with his seat for it is from that place that he must judge 
wind effects, vibration, motor trouble, and the thousand and one 
little creaks and hums that will ultimately mean so much to him. 
Not until he has thoroughly accustomed himself to his seat, should 
he try to run along the ground. This done, hours should be spent 
running up and down and around the field to learn the use of the 
rudder, particularly on rough ground. The runs should be straight 
so that when the time comes to leap into the air, the aviator may be 
sure that he is on an even keel, and flying straightaway. In order 
to prevent the possibility of leaving the ground unexpectedly in 
practice, trials should be made only in calm weather and with the 
motor well throttled down so that the machine will be reduced to a 



Fig. 41. Aerocurve of Phillip’s Design 



BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


95 


speed of not more than 15 miles per hour. After a time this may be 
increased to 20, but the latter is the maximum for ground practice, 
as the machine will rise at speeds slightly exceeding this. In these 
practice runs on the ground, the student should learn to gauge the 
rush of air against his face, as when aloft his best gauge will be the 
wind pressure on his cheeks, as that will tell him whether he is mov¬ 
ing with sufficient speed to keep up or not. It will also tell him ulti¬ 
mately whether he is moving along the ground fast enough to leap up. 

In this stage of experimenting on the ground, the elevator is 
kept neutral as far as possible. With increasing skill its use may be 
ventured, but only sparingly, for it takes very little to lift the machine 
from the ground with a speed in excess of 20 miles per hour. It will 
soon be discovered that the elevator can be used as a brake to pre¬ 
vent pitching forward. The tail elevators on the Farman or Bleriot 
running gear are very effective owing to the blast of the propeller, 
even when the main planes are not moving forward at lifting speed. 
With the Curtiss type of running gear and a front elevator only, 
it is often possible at 18 to 20 miles per hour to raise the front wheel 
off the ground for a second or two—facts which indicate that at 25 
to 28 miles per hour, the elevator is far more effective. 

First Flight. The first actual flight should be confined to a short 
trip parallel to the ground and not more than one or two feet above 
it. At first, the student should see how close he can fly to the ground 
without actually touching it,- which he can do by gradually increas¬ 
ing his forward speed. This must be done in an absolute calm as an 
appreciable amount of wind will bring in too many other factors for 
the student to master at so early a stage. This practice should be 
continued in calm air until short, straight flights can be made a foot 
or two from the ground with the motor wide open. If it be found 
that the machine barely flies straightaway with the full power of the 
motor, the latter is either badly out of adjustment, or a more power¬ 
ful engine is required. In an under-powered machine turning would 
be suicidal. Moreover, the resistance encountered in the air is 
greater than on the ground and may be such that the speed is not 
sufficient for sustentation. Fig. 42, (a) and (b), show why it is possible 
to run along the ground faster than it is possible to travel in the air, 
under certain conditions, and why the ground can be left at low 
speed. If it were possible to drive a machine with such enormous 


96 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


projected areas as BB, shown in Fig. 42 (b), a man could fly slowly for 
an indefinite period/ But the projected area is greater than the air 
displaced by the propeller, and it is impossible to fly except with a 
moderate angle of incidence, giving projected areas A A, Fig. 42 (a). 

The student, as he increases in skill, may venture to a height of 
10 feet, which should be maintained as accurately as before, and 
after making a run of 100 yards, the machine should be pointed 
down, but ever so.slightly. The wind pressure on the face immediately 
becomes greater. Within a foot or two of the ground the motor 
should be cut oft* or throttled. This should be tried ten or fifteen 
times, and the height increased to 30 or 40 feet, in order that the 
student may familiarize himself with the sensation of coasting. At 
the end of each glide the machine will seem to become more responsive, 
as indeed it does, for gliding down greatly increases the efficiency 
of the elevator and other controls, because of the increased speed. 
Gliding down steep angles is often the aviator’s salvation in a tight 



place, particularly when the motor fails, a side gust threatens, or 
an air pocket is encountered. 

Warping the Wings. When sufficient confidence has been 
attained at a height of 30 to 40 feet, the ailerons or warping devices 
may be tried judiciously. Here the intention should be to correct 
any tendency to side tipping, and not purposely to incline the machine 
as far as possible without actually causing a wreck. The use of the 
lateral control may cause the machine to swerve a little, but that 
may be ignored. Before landing, a straight course should be taken 
so that the machine will always come down on an. even keel. With 
increasing practice, the student may fly higher, but always with the 
understanding that there is a limit to the angle of incidence. An 
automobile is retarded when it strikes a short, steep hill; so is an 
aeroplane. No aeroplane has yet been built that can take a steep 
angle and climb right up that grade continuously. Altitude is 








BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


97 


reached by a series of small steps and at comparatively low angles, 
as unless the course is straightened out at regular intervals, a machine 
will lose its speed and tend to plunge tail first, just as is the case when 
an attempt is made to rise from the ground at too sharp an angle. 

In warping the wings an increase of lift imparted to one wing 
of the machine is produced by increasing the angle of incidence of 
the whole or part of the wing, or by an increase of pressure under 
that wing, and will tend to cause that side of the machine to rise 
and the other side to lower, the result being that the machine will 
be liable to slide through the air diagonally. In the majority of 
aeroplanes there are no fins or keels to counteract this movement, 
and lateral stability must be restored by artificially increasing the 
lift of the depressed wing. This can be done by warping, or lowering 
the trailing edge of the depressed wing and increasing its lift, and 
simultaneously raising the trailing edge of the other wing, thus 
decreasing the angle of incidence of the latter and reducing its lifting 
effect. This applies to flight on a straight course, whatever the cause 
may be that tends to upset lateral stability. It will be seen, there¬ 
fore, that the center of gravity remains constant and the center of 
pressure must be manipulated to restore stability. This manipula¬ 
tion is much more rapid and positive than the alteration of the center 
of gravity by the movement of the aviator’s body resorted to in the 
early gliding flights of pioneer experimenters. 

Making a Turn. The first turn should be made over a large 
field and the diameter of the turn should be at least half a mile. The 
height should be not less than 50 feet. After that le\el has been 
maintained, the rudder should be moved very gingerly. The machine 
will lean in almost immediately, because the outer end travels at a 
higher speed than the inner and therefore has a greater lift. Warping 
or working the ailerons should be resorted to as a means of counter¬ 
acting this tendency, and the rudder swung to the opposite direc¬ 
tion, if necessary. It is obvious that if the rudder will cause the 
machine to bank when swung in one direction, it will right the machine 
again when swung in the opposite direction. It is even possible to 
turn the machine on an even keel by anticipating the banking, simply 
by correctly using the rudder, which was necessary in the old Yoisin 
machine flown by Farman in 1908, because it had no mechanical 
lateral control. The student should learn the correct angle of bank- 


98 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


ing, i. e., the angle at which the machine will neither skid nor slide 
down and which is most economical of power because it requires 
less use of the lateral controls. The necessity of “feeling the air” 
is greater in turning than in any other phase of flying. By “feeling 
the air” is meant the ability to meet any contingency intuitively 
and not until this is acquired can the student become an expert 
aviator. When it has been acquired, safe flying is assured and is 
dependent only upon the integrity of the planes, motor, and controls. 
By using the rudder discreetly and by banking simply far enough 
to partially offset the centrifugal force of turning, the use of the 
lateral control will not be necessary in still air. Even too short a 
turn can be corrected by a quick use of the rudder. 

The peculiarities existing between different types of mono¬ 
planes become even more marked than between the biplane and the 
monoplane. For example, in piloting a Bleriot monoplane, Fig. 
43, it is necessary to take into account the effect of the engine torque. 
As the engine rotates in a right-hand direction, from the point of 
view of the pilot, the left wing tends to rise in the air, owing to the 
depression of the right side of the machine. The machine also tends 
to turn to the right, and this must be counteracted by putting the 
rudder over to the left. An aeroplane answers its controls with com¬ 
parative slowness, with the exception, perhaps, of the Wright machine, 
which is noted for its sensitive and quick response to every move¬ 
ment of the levers. All control movements must, therefore, be very 
gentle, as the behavior of an aeroplane is more like that of a boat 
than that of an automobile. The action of the elevator has already 
been described, and it is, perhaps, the most difficult of all the con¬ 
trols to manipulate, in that it requires the exercise of a new sense. 
The direction rudder is naturally a more familiar type of control, 
and in action is similar to the rudder of a boat. 

The torque of the motor renders it advisable for a novice to 
turn his machine to the right, if a right-hand propeller be used, and 
vice versa. If two propellers, turning in opposite directions, are 
employed, as in the Wright biplane, there is no inequality from the 
torque of the motor. Since torque is not noticeable in straight fly¬ 
ing, straightening out again will always serve the student when he 
finds himself in trouble on a turn. When the use of the rudders 
and ailerons has reduced the speed, a downward glide will increase 


BUILDING AND 


FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


99 



Fig. 43. Making a Start with Bleriot Monoplane 





100 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


it again, and if the motor should stop on a turn, such a downward 
glide is immediately imperative. When the machine is thus gliding, 
a change in the fore-and-aft balance becomes at once apparent, 
because the blast of the propeller no longer acts on the tail, and the 
elevator must then be used with greater amplitude to obtain the 
same effect. 

Only by constant practice in calm air can the student familiarize 
himself with exactly the amount of warping and rudder control to 
employ to properly offset the lowering of the inner wing in rounding 
a turn. If this be not corrected, the whole machine tends to bank 
excessively and will be apt to slide downward in a diagonal direc¬ 
tion, Fig. 44. This is a perilous position for the aviator and must 
be guarded against by the manipulation of the warping control so 
as to increase the lift of the inner wing of a biplane, at the same time, 
employing the rudder to counteract this tendency. The use of the 
rudder is of even greater importance on the monoplane, as, in this 
case, warping the inner wing tends to direct the whole machine 
downward instead of raising the inner wing itself. Several bad 
accidents have resulted from monoplanes refusing to respond to the 
warping of the inner wing when making a turn. In such machines, 
the rudder must be practically always employed in connection with 
the warping of the wings in order to keep the machine on an even 
keel, although the controls may not actually be interconnected, 
this being one of the grounds on which foreign manufacturers are 
trying to make use of the Wright principle, without infringing the 
Wright patents, as while they employ warping in connection with 
the simultaneous use of the rudder, the controls are not attached to 
the same lever as in the Wright machine. 

Lateral resistance must also be taken into consideration in 
turning, otherwise the machine, if kept on an even keel, will tend 
to skid through the air and turn about its center of gravity as a pivot. 
In the case of an automobile, the resistance to lateral displacement 
is great, though on a greasy surface it may be small, as when the 
machine skids sideways, a suitable banking of the road being neces¬ 
sary to prevent this on turns. Many hold that the banking of the 
aeroplane'on turns is only the direct effect of the turning itself, but 
the fallacy of this will be apparent upon a consideration of the law 
of centrifugal force. It is obvious that to make a turn, some force 




BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


101 



Fig. 44. An Aeroplane “Banking” as it Rounds a Pylon 









102 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


must be imparted to the machine to counteract the effect of the cen¬ 
trifugal force upon the machine as a whole. And as the sidewise 
projection of the machine is small, a compensating force must be 
introduced. This can be done only by previously banking up the 
machine on the outer wing, so that the pressure of the air under the 
main plane can counteract the tendency to lateral displacement. 
The force then acting under the planes is in a diagonal direction, 
and the angle at which it is inclined vertically depends upon the 
banking of the planes, it being normal to their greater dimension. 
This force can be resolved into two forces, one perpendicular and one 
horizontal, the magnitude of each being dependent upon the degree 
of banking. When the speed of the machine is higher, the amount 
of banking must be greater in order to increase the value of the hori¬ 
zontal component in proportion to the increase of the value of the 
centrifugal force at the higher speed, in spite of the fact that the 
forces acting under the planes are also greater due to the higher 
speed. 

As the curve commences, the rudder being put over, the difference 
of the pressures on the two wings, owing to their different flying 
speeds comes into account, as already explained, and care must be 
taken that the banking does not increase abnormally. When the 
turn is completed, the rudder is straightened and the machine is 
again brought to an even keel with the aid of the wing-warping 
control, or the ailerons. The effect of a reverse warping to prevent 
excessive banking, lowering the inside wing tip incidentally, puts a 
slight drag on that wing and assists in the action of turning, as does 
also the provision of small vertical planes between the elevator planes 
of the original Wright machine. Since the adoption of the headless 
type, these surfaces are placed between the forward ends of the skids 
and the braces leading down to them. 

In making a turn, say, to the left, the outside or right-hand 
wing is first raised by lowering the wing tip on that side and the 
rudder is then put over to the left. When the correct amount of 
banking is acquired, the wing tip is restored to its normal position, 
and probably the left wing tip may have to be lowered slightly to 
increase the lift on that side owing to its reduced speed. When the 
turn is completed, the rudder is straightened out and the left wing 
tip lowered to restore the machine to an even keel. Both Glenn 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


103 


Curtiss in this country and R. E. Pelterie in France have shown 
that it is possible to maneuver without using the rudder at all, the 
ailerons or wing tips alone being relied upon for this purpose. 

Before flights in other than calm air are attempted, much 
practice is required. The machine must be inspected over and over 
again, and the wind variations studied with a watchful e\ e. ^^ot 
until this familiarity with machine and atmosphere be acquired 
should flying in a wind be attempted. To the man on the 
ground, wind is simply air moving horizontally, but to the man 
in the air it is quite different. Not only must he consider horizontal 
movement, but vertical draughts and vortices as well. A rising 
current of air lifts a machine, a downward current depresses it, and 
he must learn to take advantage of the former as the birds do. Hori¬ 
zontal currents affect forward speed over the ground; swirls and 
vortices create inequalities in wind pressure on the planes and 
disturb lateral balance. Familiarity with all these atmospheric 
conditions can be acquired only after long practice. Against every 
tree, house, hill, fence, and hedge beats an invisible surf of air; 
upward currents on one side and downward on the other. 1 he upward 
draught is not usually dangerous, for it simply lifts the machine; but 
the down draught will cause it to drop. A swift downward glide 
under the full power of the motor must then be made, to increase 
the forward speed and consequently the lift, dhis explains why 
it is dangerous to fly near the ground in a wind; likewise why the 
beginner should never attempt flying at first in anything but a dead 

calm. 

Turning in a Wind. When turning in a wind, two velocities 
must be borne in mind, that of the machine relative to the air and 
that relative to the earth. The former is limited at its lower value 
to that of the flying speed of the machine, and the latter must be 
considered on account of the momentum of the machine as a whole. 
Change of momentum is a matter of horse-power and weight and 
is the governing factor in flying in a wind on a circular couise. Sup¬ 
pose the flying speed of a machine is a minimum of 30 miles an hour 
relative to the air, and a wind of 20 miles an hour is blowing. The 
actual speed of the machine relative to the earth in flying against 
the wind will be 10 miles an hour. If it be desired to turn down th^ 
wind, the speed of the machine relative to the earth must be increased 


104 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 

from 10 miles to 50 miles an hour during the turn and a correspond¬ 
ing change of momentum must be overcome. There are two ways of 
accomplishing this, either by speeding up the motor to give the 
maximum power, or by rising just previous to making the turn and 
then sweeping down as the turn is made, thus utilizing the accelera¬ 
tion due to gravity to assist the motor. The wind’s velocity will 
assist the machine also and during the turn it will make considerable 
leeway, a small amount of which is deducted to counteract the 
centrifugal force of the machine. 

Turning in a contrary direction, i. e., up into the wind when 
running with it, requires considerable skill, as when flying 50 miles 
an hour, *the tendency on rounding a corner into a 20-mile-an-hour 
wind would be for the machine to rise rapidly in the air. The centrif¬ 
ugal force at such a speed is also considerable, causing the machine 
to make much leeway with the wind during the turn. Turning under 
such circumstances should be commenced early, particularly if 
there are any obstructions in the vicinity, and considerable skill 
should be acquired before an attempt is made to fly in such a wind. 

Starting and Landing. A machine should always be started 
and landed in the teeth of the wind, and no one but the most experi¬ 
enced aviators can afford to disregard this advice, certainly not the 
novice. The precaution is necessary because in landing the machine 
should always travel straight ahead without the possibility of lurch¬ 
ing and consequently breaking a wing, as frequently happens. 
Contact with the ground is necessarily made at a time when the 
machine is traveling over it at a speed of 30 to 40 miles per hour 
and skidding sideways at 10 to 15 miles per hour, all circumstances 
which tend to wreck an aferoplane. 

Planning a Flight. It is easy to lose one’s way in the air. For 
that reason it is best to follow the Wright idea of starting out with a 
definite plan, and of landing in some predetermined spot, as aimless 
wandering about may prove disastrous to the inexperienced aviator, 
lie may forget which way the wind was blowing, or how much fuel 
he had, or the character of the ground beneath him. Should the 
motor stop, he may make an all too hasty decision in landing. It is 
an easy matter to lose one’s bearings in the air, not only because 
Uie vehicle is completely immersed in the medium in which it is 
traveling, but also because the earth assumes a new aspect from the 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


105 


seat of an aeroplane. Cecil Grace was one of those who lost his 
bearings and, as a consequence, his life. Ordinary winds blowing 
over a level country can be negotiated with comparative safety. 
Not so the puffy wind. To cope with that, constant vigilance is 
required, particularly in turning. In a circular flight in a steady 
wind, the only apparent effect is that the earth is swept over faster 
in one direction than in the other. Before a cross-country flight 
is attempted, the starting field should be circled over at a great 
height, as not until then may the long distance flight be started in 
safety. Cross-country flying is, of course, fascinating, and it is a 
sore temptation, at an altitude of a few hundred feet, to throw off 
all caution and flv off over that strange country below, which is, 
indeed, a new land as viewed from aloft. To quote a professional 
aviator: ‘TIere the greatest self-restraint must be exercised. Not 
until the necessary practice has been acquired, not until the right 
kind of confidence has been gained, may one of these trips be 
attempted, and then only after it has been properly planned.” 

Training the Professional Aviator. Look back over the achieve¬ 
ments in the air during the comparatively short time that man has 
actually been flying, and it will be noted that the beginners, burning 
up with the enthusiasm of the novice, have performed the most 
spectacular feats and flown with the greatest fearlessness. Curtiss 
was comparatively new at aviation when he won the Gordon-Bennett 
at Rheims in 1909. John B. Moisant, the sixth time he ever went 
up in an aeroplane, flew from Paris to London with a 187-pound 
passenger and'302 pounds of fuel, oil, and spare parts. Hamilton 
made his successful flight from New \ ork to Philadelphia and 
return when he was hardly more than a novice, while Atwood’s great 
flights from St. Louis to New York and Boston to Washington were 
made before his name had become known, and Beachey had been 
flying only a few months when he broke the world’s altitude record 
at Chicago, while more recent achievements, notably Dixon’s flight 
across the Rockies, have emphasized the work of the beginner. All 
of this substantiates the belief held at every aviation headquarters 
in the country—namely, that the older men already in aviation 
may improve the art by executive ability and scientific experiments, 
but most of them will degenerate as flyers. Beyond a certain point, 
frequency of flight does not necessarily create a feeling of confidence 


106 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


and safety; rather it brings a fuller appreciation of the dangers, 
and the men who best know how to fly are most content to stay upon 
the ground. 

Professional aviators are drawn from every walk of life, but 
trick bicycle performers, acrobats, parachute jumpers, and racing 
automobile drivers make the most promising applicants. By a kind 
of sixth sense, both the Wrights and Curtiss weed out the promising 
ones after a brief examination. They select men who have an almost 
intuitive sense of balance. Most of these, provided they have nerve, 
have in them the stuff of which aviators are made, even though they 
may have had no experience in any line akin to aviation. Neither 
Curtiss nor the Wrights will accept women under any condition. 
The Moisant school does not share this discrimination and trained 
three women for pilot’s licenses during 1911. 

Curtiss and the Wrights are keen in their realization that 
recklessness is pulling a wing feather from aviation every time a 
man is killed, and they are doing their utmost to promote conservatism. 
Curtiss said in an interview: 

I do not encourage and never have encouraged fancy flying. I regard 
the spectacular gyrations of several aviators I know as foolhardy and unneces¬ 
sary. I do not believe that fancy or trick flying demonstrates anything except 
an unlimited amount of a certain kind of nerve and perhaps the possibilities 
of what is valueless—aerial acrobatics. Some aviators develop the sense of 
balance very rapidly, while others acquire it only after long practice. It may 
be developed to a large extent by going up as a passenger with an experienced 
man. Therefore, in teaching a beginner, I make it a point to have him make 
as many trips as possible with someone else operating the machine. In this 
way the pupil gains confidence, becomes accustomed to the sensation of flying, 
and is soon ready for a flight on his own hook. This is the method used in train¬ 
ing army and navy officers to fly. I have never seen novices more cautious 
and yet more eager to fly than these young officers. They have always learned 
every detail of their machines before going aloft, and largely because of this 
they have developed into great flyers. Perhaps it is due to the military bent 
of their minds; at any rate, they have made good almost without exception. 

ACCIDENTS AND THEIR LESSONS 

Press Reports. Whenever an industry, profession, or what 
not, is prominently before the public, every event connected with 
it is regarded as “good copy” by the daily press. Happenings of so 
insignificant a nature that in any commonplace calling would not 
be considered worthy of mention at all, are “played up.” This is 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


107 


particularly the case with fatalities, and the eagerness to cater to the 
morbid streak in human nature’ has been responsible for the unusual 
amount of attention devoted to any or all accidents to flying machines, 
and more especially where they have a fatal ending. In fact, this 
has led to the chronicling of many deaths in the field of aviation 
that have not happened—some of them where there was not even 
an accident of any kind. For instance, in many of the casualty lists 
published abroad from time to time, such flyers as Hamilton, Brook¬ 
ins, and others have figured among those who have been killed, ever 
since the date of mishaps that they had months ago. 

It will be recalled that five years ago, when the automobile 
began to assume a very prominent position, every fatality for which 
it was responsible was heralded broadcast where deaths caused by 
other vehicles would not be accorded more than local notice. To a 


large extent, this is still true and will probably continue to be the 
case until the automobile assumes a role in our daily existence as 
commonplace as the horse-drawn wagon and trolley car. There is 
undoubtedly ample justification for this and particularly for the 
editorial comment always accompanying it, where the number of 
lives sacrificed to what can be regarded only as criminal recklessness 
is concerned. Still, the fact that in a city like New \ork the tiuek 
and the trolley car are responsible for an annual death roll more 
than twice as large as that caused by the automobile, does not call 
for any particular mention. Horses and wagons, we have always 
had with us, and the trolley car long since became too commonplace 
an institution around which to build a sensation. 

As the most novel and recent of man’s accomplishments, the 


conquest of the air and everything pertaining to it is a subject on 
which the public is exceedingly keen for news and nothing appears 
to be of too trivial import to merit space. Where an aviator of any 
prominence is injured, or succumbs to an accident, the event is 
accorded an amount of attention little short of that given the death 
of some one prominent in official life. During the four years that 
aviation has been to the fore, about 104 men and one woman have 
been killed, not including the deaths of three or four spectators 
resulting from accidents to aeroplanes, during this period i. e., from 
the beginning of 1908 to the end of 1911. In view of the lack of 
corroboration in some cases, the figures are made thus indefinite. 


108 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


Naturally most of these deaths have occurred in 1910 and 1911— 
in fact, 50 per cent took place from 1908 to the end of 1910, and the 
remainder during 1911, since these years were responsible for a far 
greater development, and particularly for a greater increase in the 
number engaged, than ever before. More was accomplished in these 
two years than in the entire period intervening between that^ day 
in December, 1903, when the Wright Brothers first succeeded in 
leaving the ground in a power-driven machine, and the beginning 
of 1910. 

Fatal Accidents. Conceding that the maximum number men¬ 
tioned, 105, were killed during the four years in question, throughout 
the world, it will doubtless come as a surprise to many to learn 
that this is probably not quite twice the number who have suc¬ 
cumbed to football accidents during the same time in the United 
States alone. Authentic statistics place the number thus killed at 
13 during 1908, 23 in 1909, 14 during 1910, and 17 in 1911, or a total 
of 67. But we have been playing football for a couple of centuries 
or more and this is regarded as a matter of course. The death of a 
football player occurring in some small, out-of-the-way place would 
not receive more than local attention, unless there were other reasons 
for giving it prominence, so that, in all probability, the statistics in 
question fall far short of the truth, rather than otherwise. 

The object of mentioning this phase of the matter is to place 
the question of accidents in its true light. That the development 
of any new art is bound to be attended by numerous mishaps, many 
of them fatal, goes without saying and it is something that can not 
be ignored. Nothing could be worse than attempting to gloss over 
or belittle the loss of life for which aviation has been responsible 
and doubtless will continue to be. Progress invariably takes its 
toll and it is more often founded upon failure than unvarying success, 
for every accident is a failure, in a sense, and every accident carries 
with it its own lesson. 

Where the cause is apparent, it gives an indication of the remedy 
which will bring about the prevention of its recurrence. In other 
words, it serves to point out weaknesses and shows what is necessary 
to overcome them. For that reason alone is the question of accidents 
taken up here, as a study of those that have occurred points the way 
to improvement. Table III gives a resume of the more impor- 


Fatal Aeroplane Accidents 



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BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


tant fatalities that have resulted from the use of a heavier-than-air 
machine during the past four years: 

Fatalities greatly increased in number during 1911, but not out 
of proportion to the greatly augmented number of aviators. With 
comparatively few exceptions, however, the accidents were more or 
less similar in their nature to those already tabulated, so that it 
would be of no particular value to extend the comparison in this 
manner to cover them. Many of the fatalities during that year were 
not of the aviators themselves, but of the spectators, a fact which calls 
attention to a danger that has not been fully appreciated before. 
At the start of the Paris-Madrid race, the French minister of war 
and another official were killed by a monoplane plunging into the 
crowd, and on the same day, May 21, 1911, five people were killed 
at Odessa, Russia, in the same manner. An unusual type of mishap, 
not mentioned in the tabulation and in which three or four aviators 
lost their lives during 1911, was the burning of the aeroplane in 
midair, or the explosion of the gasoline, setting fire to the wings 
and either burning the aviator at his post or killing him by the fall. 
One such accident occurred in France in September, another in 
Spain two days later, and a third in Germany, in which two men 
were killed. Accidents of an even more unusual nature were the 
collision of two biplanes in midair at St. Petersburg, the collision of 
a motorcycle with a biplane as it swooped down on a race track, and 
the partial wrecking of Fowler’s biplane by a bull upon landing 
near Fort Worth, Texas, but these, of course, had no bearing on the 
design of the machines. 

Apart from those specially referred to, the great majority of 
accidents during 1911 may be ascribed to two or three of the causes 
detailed in connection with the comparative table. Of these? lack of 
experience and foolhardiness stand out prominently, the latter un¬ 
doubtedly causing the double fatality at Chicago when two aero¬ 
planes plunged into Lake Michigan, drowning one of the aviators, 
while a third machine collapsed in mid-air, hurling the aviator to 
his death on the field. Careful reading of the reports of a large 
number of these accidents usually brings to light the statement “in 
attempting to make a quick turn,” or similar phrase, showing that 
the moving cause of the accident was due to subjecting the parts of 
the machine to excessive stresses, as outlined in the following pages. 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


111 


Causes. Lack of Experience. It will be at once noticeable 
bv Table III that out of a total of 28, no less than 16, or considerably 
more than half of the accidents, were due in one way or another to 
lack of experience. In other words, the aviators had not fully com¬ 
plied with the cardinal principle for success in flying upon which 
the Wright Brothers have always laid so much stress, i. e., you must 
first learn to fly before you can attempt to go aloft safely. Nothing 
short of a thorough mastery of the machine can suffice to give the 
aviator the ability to do the right thing at the right moment, in the 
great majority of cases. There will always be occasions when even 
the most skilled aviator will make errors of judgment and frequently 
they cost him his life. But this is equally true of every dangerous 
calling, whether it be running an automobile, driving a locomotive, 
or doing any of the thousand and one things where the responsibility 
for his own and other lives is placed in one man’s hands and depends 
to a large extent on his discretion and judgment in cases of emergency, 
so that there will be fatalities from this cause as long as man con¬ 
tinues to flv. This involves the personal equation that must always 
be reckoned with. Just how many of the accidents that have resulted 
in the fatalities set forth, have been due to the fallibility of the operator 


and for how much the design of the current types of machines is 
responsible, would be hard to say. Fig. 45, for example, which shows 
H. V. Roe in the act of striking the ground in his triplane, illustrates 
an accident due to bad design. Methods of control will be improved 
and simplified and made as nearly “fool-proof” as human ingenuity 
can accomplish, but experience in other fields has demonstrated 
unmistakably that they can never be developed to a point where it 
is impossible to do the wrong thing. With skill at such a premium 
in callings of responsibility which involve only conditions that have 
been familiar for years, how much more so must it be in the air 
about which so little is known? Consequently, the real danger is to 
be found in the personal equation, just as it is in every other mode 
of conveyance, despite the fact that it has been perfected to a point 
which apparently admits of little further development where safe¬ 
guarding it is concerned. 

Obstructions. Obstructions are bound to play a prominent 


part in accidents to any method of conveyance, but less so in aviation 
than in any other, as it is only in rising and alighting that this danger 


112 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 



Fig. 45. Roe’s Multiplane as it Struck the Ground. An Accident Due to Poor Design 











BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


113 



Fig. 46. DeLesseps’ Machine after Striking an Obstruction 

















114 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


is present. Of the two fatal accidents ascribed to this cause, one 
resulted from colliding with an obstruction while running along the 
ground preparatory to rising, and the other from striking an obstruc¬ 
tion in flight, Fig. 46. In view of the numerous cross-country flights 
that have been made, trips across cities and the like, it is to be mar¬ 
veled at that up to the present writing no fatalities have been caused 
by what the aviator most dreads when leaving the safety of the open 
field, that is, being compelled to make a landing through stoppage 
of the motor, whether from a defection or lack of fuel. While no 
fatalities have as yet to be put down to this ever-present danger 
in extended flights, an accident that might have had a fatal termina¬ 
tion, occurred to Le Blanc during the competition for the Gordon- 



Fig. 47. Overturned Monoplane Due to a Start in a Gale 


Bennett trophy, which was the chief event of the International Meet 
in October, 1910, at Belmont Park, near New A T ork. Le Blanc and 
his fellow compatriots who were eligible were all experienced cross¬ 
country flyers, the former having won the Circuit de U Est, a race 
around France, and by far the most ambitious of its kind which had 
been attempted up to that time. They accordingly protested most 
vigorously against flying over the American course to compete for 
the cup which Curtiss had captured at Rheims the year before, 
owing to the fact that it presented numerous dangerous obstructions 
in the form of trees and telegraph poles. But as it was impossible 
to provide any other convenient five-kilometer circuit (3.11 miles) 
c.s called for by the conditions, the protest was of no avail. After 




BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


115 


having covered 19 of the 20 laps necessary to complete the distance 
of 100 kilometers in time that had never been approached before, 
Le Blanc was compelled to descend through lack of fuel, and as he had 
not risen more than 80 to 100 feet at any time during the race, this 
meant coming down the moment the motor stopped. The result was a 
collision with a telegraph pole, breaking it off and wrecking the mono¬ 
plane, the aviator fortunately escaping any serious injury. During 
the same meet Moisant demolished his Bleriot monoplane by trying 
to start in the face of a high wind, Figs. 47 and 48. 

Stopping of Motor. The mere fact that the motor stops does 
not necessarily mean a disastrous ending to a flight, as is very com- 



Fig. 48. View of Moisant Monoplane after a Bad Spill 


monly believed, this having been strikingly illustrated by Brookins’ 
glide to earth from an altitude of 5,000 feet with the motor dead, 
and Moisant’s glide from an even greater height in France. But it 
does mean a wreck unless a suitable landing place can be reached 
with the limited ability to control the machine that the aviator has 
when he can no longer command its power. Motors will undoubtedly 
become more and more reliable as development progresses, but the 
human equation—the partly-filled fuel tank, the loose adjustment 
that is overlooked before starting, and a hundred and one things of 
a similar nature—will always play their role, so that compulsory 
landing in unsuitable places will always constitute a source of danger 
as flights become more and more extended. 






116 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


Breakage of Parts of Aeroplanes. In studying the foregoing 
table, it can only be a source of satisfaction to the intelligent student 
and believer in aerial navigation, to note how large a proportion 
of the accidents is due to the breakage of parts of the machine. 
This implies a fault in construction, but not in principle. It reveals 
the fact that, in the attempt to secure lightness, strength has some¬ 
times been sacrificed, chiefly through lack of appreciation of the 
stresses to which the machine is subjected in operation. At a time 
when weight is regarded almost as the paramount factor by so many 
builders, it is inevitable that some should err by shaving things too 
fine. Lightness is an absolute necessity and failure to achieve it in 
every instance without eliminating the factor of safety has been due 
more to the crude methods of construction and lack of suitable mate¬ 
rials, than any other cause—conditions that are bound to obtain in the 
early days of any art. Construction is improving rapidly, but 
progress is bound to be attended with accidents of this nature. The 
fact that their proportion is greatly diminishing despite the rapidly 
increasing number of aviators is the best evidence of what is being 
accomplished. When machines are built with such a high factor 
of safety in every part that breakage is an almost unheard-of thing, 
failures from this cause will have been reduced to an unsurpassable 
minimum. 

Failure of the Control Mechanism. Under the general classifica¬ 
tion B, are included not alone those accidents directly due to break¬ 
age of some vital part, but also those instances in which some element 
of the control, such as the elevator, has become inoperative through 
jamming. When an accident happens in the air, it takes place so 
quickly and the machine is so totally wrecked by falling to the ground, 
that it is usually difficult to determine the exact nature of the cause 
through a subsequent examination of the parts, so that it can seldom 
be stated with certainty just what the initial defection consisted of, 
though it may be regarded as a foregone conclusion that, in the case 
of experienced aviators who have previously demonstrated their 
ability to cope with all ordinary emergencies, nothing short of the 
failure of some vital part could have caused their fall. 

This was the case with Johnstone’s accident at Denver—an 
occurrence illustrating another phase of the personal equation that 
must be taken into consideration when noting the lessons to be 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


117 


learned from a study of accidents and their causes. It is simply 
the old, old story of familiarity breeding contempt — the miner 
thawing out sticks of dynamite before an open fire. Due to the 
rarefied air of Denver, which is at an elevation of more than 5,000 
feet, Johnstone had underestimated the braking powers of the air 
on the machine in landing the day previous and had crashed into a 
fence, breaking one of the right outermost struts between the sup¬ 
porting planes. 

Proper regard for safety should naturally have called for its 
replacement by an entirely new strut, but conditions at flying meets 
as at present conducted make quick repairs to damaged machines 
imperative. The damaged upright was accordingly glued and braced 
by placing iron rings around it, the rings themselves being held in 
place by ordinary nails passing through holes in the iron large enough 
to let the nail head slip through. The vibration of the motor and 
the straining of the strut in warping the wings caused the nails to 
work out of the holes, permitting the rings to slide out of place, as 
well. Johnstone was an accomplished aviator, much given to the 
execution of aerial maneuvers only possible to the skilled flyer of 
quick and ready judgment. But such performances impose excessive 
stresses on the supporting planes and their braces, and one of John¬ 
stone’s quick turns caused the repaired struts to collapse through 
the strain of sharply warping the wing tips on that side. He imme¬ 
diately attempted to restore the balance of the machine by bringing 
the left wing down with the control, then tried to force the twisting 
on the right side, succeeding momentarily, and a few seconds later 
losing all control and crashing to the ground. It appeared to demon¬ 
strate that even when disabled an aeroplane is not entirely without 
support, but has more or less buoyancy—something which is really 
more of an optical illusion than anything else due to underestimating 
the speed at which a body falls from any great height. Johnstone’s 
accident was the first of its kind, in that he fell from a height of about 
800 feet, during the first 500 of which he struggled to regain control 
of the machine, finally dropping the remaining 300 feet apparently 
as so much dead weight. It showed in a most striking manner the 
vital importance of the struts connecting the supporting surfaces of 
the biplane, any damage to them resulting in the crippling of the 
balancing devices and the end of all aerial support. 


118 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


Biplane vs. Monoplane. It requires only a glance at Table III 
to show that the greater number of accidents have happened to 
the biplane, yet the latter is generally regarded as the safer of the 
two. Prior to Delagrange’s fatal fall in January, 1910, there had 
been only four fatalities with modern flying machines: Selfridge 
and Lefebre were killed in Wright machines, the latter of French 
manufacture, Ferber lost control of his Voisin biplane, and Fer¬ 
nandez was killed flying a biplane of his own design. In one case at 
least, that of Lieutenant Selfridge, the accident appears to have 
been due to the failure of a vital part—the propeller. It has since 
become customary to cover the tips of propellers for at least a foot 
or so with fabric tightly fitted and varnished so as to become prac¬ 
tically an integral part of the wood. This prevents splintering as 
well as avoiding the danger of the laminations succumbing to cen¬ 
trifugal force and flying apart. At the extremely high speeds, par¬ 
ticularly at which direct-driven propellers are run, the stress imposed 
on the outer portion of the blades by this force is tremendous. In 
making any attempt to compare the number of accidents to the 
biplane and the monoplane, it must also be borne in mind that the 
former has been in the majority. 

Delagrange’s accident offers two special features of technical 
interest. It was the first fatality to happen with the monoplane 
and was likewise the first fatal accident which appeared to be dis¬ 
tinctly due to a failure of the main structure of the machine. For 
obvious reasons, it is usually difficult to definitely fix the cause of 
an accident, but in this case there seemed good reason to suppose 
that the main framing of one of the wings gave way altogether. 
Curiously enough, Santos-Dumont had an accident the day following 
from an exactly similar cause, the machine plunging to the ground. 
But with the good fortune that has attended this experimenter 
throughout his long aerial career, he was uninjured. It was definitely 
established that the cause was the fracture of one of the wires taking 
the upward thrust of the wing. In the case of the biplane, the top 
and bottom members are both of wood, with wooden struts, the 
whole being braced with numerous ties of wire. In the monoplane, 
however, the main spars are trussed to a strut below by a compara¬ 
tively small number of wires. The structure of each wing is, in fact, 
very much like the rigging of a sailboat, the main spars taking the 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


119 


place of the mast while the wire stays take that of the shrouds, with 
this very important difference, that the mast of the -boat is provided 
with a forestay to take the longitudinal pressure when going head 
to the wind, while the wing of an aeroplane often has no such pro¬ 
vision, the longitudinal pressure due to air resistance being taken 
entirely by the spar. 

It is quite possible that this had something to do with Dela- 
grange’s accident, as, in the effort to make a new record, his Bleriot 
had just been fitted with a very much more powerful motor. In fact, 
double that for which the machine was originally designed, and this 
was given by the maker as the probable cause of the mishap. As the 
new motor was of a very light type, the extra weight, if any, was 
quite a negligible proportion of the total weight of the machine. 
The vertical stresses on the wings and their supporting wires would, 
therefore, not be materially increased. But as the more powerful 
engine drove the wings through the air a great deal faster, the stresses 
brought upon them by the increased resistance would be substan¬ 
tially augmented and, unless provision were made for this, the factor 
of safety would be much reduced. Whether the failure ot the wing 
was actually from longitudinal stress or the breaking of a support¬ 
ing wire, as in Santos-Dumont’s case, will never be known, but it 1 o 
quite clear that the question of ample strength to resist longitudinal 
stresses should be carefully considered, especially when inci easing 


the power of an existing machine. 

The question of the most suitable materials and fastenings 
for the supporting wires is, moreover, a matter which requires very 
careful consideration. In the case of the biplane, the wires are so 


numerous that the failure of one, or even more, may not endanger 
the whole structure, but those of the monoplane are so few that the 
breaking of but one may mean the loss of the wing. In this respect, 
as in others, the conditions are parallel to the mast of the sailboat. 
It is only reasonable to expect, therefore, that similar mateiials 
would be best adapted to the purpose. At present, however, the 
stays of aeroplane wings are almost invariably solid steel wire, or 
ribbon, while marine shrouds are always ol stranded wire rope, solid 
wire not having been found satisfactory. Weight foi weight, tin 
solid wire will stand a greater strain when tried in a testing machine 
than will the stranded rope, but practice has always demonstrated 


120 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


that it is not so reliable. The stranded rope never breaks without 
warning, and sometimes several of its wires may go before the whole 
gives way. As the breakage of the strands can be easily seen, it is 
possible to replace a damaged stay before it becomes unsafe. In the 
case of a single wire, there is nothing to show whether it has dete¬ 
riorated or not. It seems a doubtful policy to use in an aeroplane 
what experience has shown not to be good enough for a boat, and 
stranded wire cables particularly designed for aeronautic use are 
now being placed on the market in this country. 

Record Breaking. Striving after records has undoubtedly 
proved one of the most prolific causes of accident. What is wanted 
to make the aeroplane of the greatest practical use is that it should 
be safe and reliable. The tendency of record-breaking machines is 
the exact opposite of this, as the weights of all the most essential 
parts must be cut down to the finest limits possible in order to 
provide sufficient power and fuel-carrying capacity for the record 
flight. It is, in fact, generally the case in engineering that the design 
and materials which will give the best results for a short time are 
essentially different from those which are the most reliable, and 
striving after speed records consists simply in disregarding safety 
and reliability to the greatest extent to which the pilots are willing 
to risk their necks, and there is no difficulty in getting men to take 
practically any risk for the substantial rewards offered. 

The performance of specially sensational feats in the air is like¬ 
wise a fertile source of accidents. One noted aviator who has the 
reputation of being a most conservative and expert operator, while 
endeavoring to land within a set space, made too sudden a turn, which 
resulted in the tail of the machine giving way, precipitating him to 
the ground. In fact, the number of failures resulting from abrupt 
turns shows conclusively that there is too small a factor of safety in 
the construction, not because the added weight could not be carried, 
but because the extreme lightness alone made possible the stunts 
for which there is always applause or financial reward. It may seem 
strange to the man whose only interest in aeronautics is that of an 
observer, that so many should be willing to take such unheard-of 
chances; that an aeronaut will rise to great heights, knowing in 
advance that a vital part of his machine has been deranged, or is 
only temporarily repaired; and that many others will attempt ambi- 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 121 


tious flights with engines or other parts that have never been tested 
previously in operation in the air. Many young and inexperienced 
aviators are not content to thoroughly test out each new part on the 
ground, or close to it, but must go aloft at once to do their experi¬ 
menting, with the usual result of such foolhardiness. If in other 
sports safe conditions were absolutely disregarded in this manner 
—take football as an instance—the resulting fatalities would not be 
charged against the sport itself. But aviation is so extremely 
novel and likewise so mysterious to the uninitiated that this is never 
taken into consideration. 

Excessive Lightness of Machines. If, even at the present early 
stage of aviation, machines are being made excessively light for 
purposes of competition, it is time that the contest committees of 
organizations in charge of meetings formulate rules as to the size of 
engines, weight of machines, and similar factors, so that accidents 
will not only be reduced to a minimum, but competition along proper 
lines will develop types of machines which are useful and not merely 
'racing freaks, as has already been done in the automobile field. 
Hair-raising performances also should be prohibited, at least until 
such time as improvements in the construction of machines make 
it reasonably certain that they are able to withstand the terrific 
strains imposed upon them in this manner. Suddenly attempting 
to bring the machine to a horizontal plane after a long dip at an 
appalling angle is an extremely dangerous maneuver, whether it be 
taken in the upper air or is one of the now familiar long glides to 
earth, which require pulling up short when within a few feet of the 
ground and after the dropping machine has acquired considerable 
inertia. The aviator is simply staking his life against the ability of 
the struts and stays to withstand the terrific stresses imposed upon 
them every time this is done.* 

As at present constructed, many of the machines are not suf¬ 
ficiently strong to withstand the utmost in the way of speed and 
sudden turns which the skilled operator is likely to put on them. 
They should be made heavier, or of materials providing greatly 
increased strength with the same weight. That they can be made 
heavier without seriously damaging their flying ability has been 

♦This is exactly what occurred at the Chicago Meet, August 15, 1911, when Badgers 
Baldwin biplane collapsed at the end of a long dive, causing the death of the aviator. 




122 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


clearly demonstrated by the numerous flights with one and two 
passengers, and on one occasion in which three passengers besides 
the driver were taken up on an ordinary machine. This was likewise 
tempting fate by overloading, but it served to show the possibilities. 

Landings. Then there is a class of accidents for which neither 
the aviator nor the machine is responsible, as where spectators have 
crowded on the field, causing the flyers to make altogether too sudden 



Fig. 49. Monoplane is Liable to Stand on its Head if Landing is Not Properly Made 


or impromptu landings at angles which would otherwise not be con¬ 
sidered for a moment. This, of course, refers solely to exhibition meets, 
and the comparative immunity of cross-country flights from fatal 
accidents as compared with the latter, speaks for itself in this respect. 
In the open, even the novice seems to be able to pick a safe landing, 
especially if high enough to glide some distance before reaching the 
ground. This brings out the fact that, as a rule, the machines are 




BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


123 


safer in the air—a large part of the danger lies in making a landing. 
Starting places are usually smooth, but landing places may be the 
reverse. When alighting directly against the wind, which is the only 
safe practice, most of the machines will remain on an even keel until 
they come to a stop, but the slightest bump or depression, in connec¬ 
tion with a side gust of wind, may swerve it around and capsize it, as 
demonstrated by the illustration of a bad landing by De Lesseps, 
Fig. 49. This was emphasized by some of the minor accidents at the 
International Meet near New York. There is no precision or accuracy 
in the movements of a flying machine when rolling slowly over the 
ground after the engine has been shut off, and the aviator is, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, helpless. The wheels on most machines are placed too 
near the center and too close together. When an attempt is made 
to land with the wind on the quarter or side, although the machine 
may strike the ground safely, owing to the accuracy with which it 
may be controlled in the air while at speed, it is apt to turn after 
rolling a short distance and the wind will then easily capsize it, break¬ 
ing a wing, smashing a propeller, and sometimes injuring the motor 
or the aviator. Accidents from this cause have been common. 

These accidents and collisions with obstructions make plain the 
fact that brakes are quite as necessary on an aeroplane as on any 
other vehicle intended to run on the ground. Practically all aero¬ 
planes are fitted with pneumatic tires and ball-bearing wheels and, 
as there is very little head resistance, they will run a considerable 
distance after alighting at a speed of 20 to 30 miles an hour. The 
employment of a brake on the wheels would have averted one of 
the fatal accidents abroad, as noted in Table III. They would 
have enabled Johnstone to stop his machine before colliding with 
the fence surrounding the aviation grounds at Denver, and they 
would have prevented several minor accidents at various meets, 
which, though not endangering the aviator in every instance, have 
often seriously damaged his machine. Every exhibition field is 
obstructed by fences, posts, buildings, and the like,-and to avoid com¬ 
ing in contact with these, as well as with the irrepressible spectator, 
the aviator should certainly have an effective means of bringing the 
machine to a standstill when it is running along the ground. How 
much more so is this necessary for cross-country flying when the choice 
of a landing place is a difficult matter at best. Ability to come to a 


124 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


stop quickly would make it possible to land in restricted places where 
only a very limited run along the ground could be had. 

Lack of Sufficient Motor Control. Another class of accidents 
that take place on the ground suggests the necessity for improving 
the motor control. In alighting, the motor is usually stopped by 
cutting off the ignition—ordinarily by grounding or short-circuiting. 
Throttling to stop appears to be seldom resorted to, but as several 
instances have occurred in which the aviator found it impossible to 
cut off the ignition, resulting in a collision with another machine or 
a building, it is evident that the control should be arranged so that 
both methods could be employed. With the increasing use of air¬ 
cooled motors that may continue to run through self-ignition after 
the spark has been cut off, this is more necessary than ever. 

While it has been demonstrated that the stoppage of the motor 
does not necessarily involve a fall, most aviators will naturally prefer 
to command the assistance of the motor at all times, and in the case 
of motors using a carbureter this should be jacketed either from the 
cooling water or the exhaust, and means provided for increasing the 
air supply to prevent the motor stopping at a great height owing to 
the cold and the rarefied air. The reasons for this have been gone 
into more at length under the heading of “Altitude.” With these 
and similar improvements that will be suggested by experience and 
further accidents, there appears to be no reason why aviation can 
not be made as safe as the personal equation will permit it to be. 
There will always be reckless flyers. Ignorance and incompetence 
can not be altogether eliminated any more than they can in sailing, 
hunting, or any other sport. The annual hunting fatalities from 
these causes in this country alone make a total beside which the 
aggregate of four years in aviation the world over, is but an insig¬ 
nificant fraction. 

Parachute Garment as a Safeguard. To save as many as pos¬ 
sible of these reckless ones from themselves, so to speak, a parachute 
garment has been devised to ease the shock of the fall. It will be 
recalled that Voisin would not fly in his biplane until he had pro¬ 
vided himself with a heavily-padded helmet, somewhat on the order 
of the football headpiece. But neither a padded headpiece nor padded 
clothing would avail much against a fall of any kind from an aero¬ 
plane; hence, the parachute garment. Its object is not to take the 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 125 


shock of a fall, as are the pads, nor is it to prevent a fall, but to reduce 
the rate of drop by interposing sufficient air resistance to make the 
fall safe. This new parachute is in the form of a loose flowing gar¬ 
ment, securely fastened to the body and fitted over a framework 
carried on the aviator’s back. The lower ends of the garment are 
secured to the ankles. The arrangement is such that when the aviator 
throws out his arms, the garment is extended somewhat in umbrella 
or parachute form, thus creating sufficient resistance to prevent too 
rapid a descent. Experiments have been made with this parachute 
dress in which the wearer has jumped from buildings, cliffs, and other 
heights, and the garment has assumed its role of parachute at once, 

permitting a safe and easy descent. 

Study of Stresses in Fancy Flying. To sum up, it will be seen 
that the most prolific cause of fatalities is the personal equation. 
Of all the many dangers encountered in aeroplaning, one of the most 
clearly defined, as well as one of the most seductive, results from fancy 
flying: from wheeling round sharp, horizontal curves; from conic 
spiraling; from cascading, swooping, and undulating in vertical plane 
curves, popularly dubbed “stunts.” These are forms of flying in 
which aviators constantly vie with one another. They frequently 
result in imposing stresses upon the machine which are far beyond 
its capacity to withstand. The danger is particularly alluring to 
reckless young aviators engaged in public exhibitions. The death 
of St. Croix Johnstone, at the Chicago Meet in the summer of 1911, 
affords a typical illustration of what may be expected as the lesult 
of such performances. Nevertheless, partly because they do not 
adequately appreciate the risk, and largely, no doubt, because of 
the liberal applause accorded by an admiring throng which also fails 
to realize the hazardous nature of the fascinating maneuvers, there 
will doubtless always be aviators to undertake such feats. 

Singularly enough, the exact magnitude of such hazards, or 
more accurately, the extent of the increased stress in the machine, 
though beyond even the approximate guess of the aviator, is capable 
of nice computation in terms of the speed and curvature of flight. 
During an exhibition meet in Washington, D. C., during the summer 
of 1911, Glenn H. Curtiss found difficulty in restraining one of his 
young pupils from executing various hair-raising maneuvers. He 
would plunge from a great elevation to acquire the utmost speed. 


126 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


then suddenly rebound and shoot far aloft. He would undulate about 
the field, and on turns would bank the machine until the wings 
appeared to stand vertical. Curtiss solemnly warned the young 
aviator and earnestly restrained him, pointing out the dangers of 
sweeping sharp curves at high speed, of swooping at such dangerous 
angles, and the like. Curtiss then turned to A. F. Zahm and expressed 
the wish that someone would determine exactly the amount of the 
added stress in curvilinear flight. The following, published by Zahm, 
in the Scientific American, gives the method of calculating this: 

When a body pursues a curvilinear path in space, the centripetal force 
urging it at any instant may be expressed by the equation 


Fn = 



(absolute units) 


mV 2 

- -—< (gravitational units) 

9 R 

in which Fn is the centripetal force, m the mass of the body, V its velocity, 
and R the instantaneous radius of curvature of the path followed by its center 
of mass. Since the mass may be regarded as constant for any short period, 
the equation may be expressed by the following simple law: 

The centripetal force varies directly as the square of the velocity of fliqht 
and inversely as the instantaneous radius of the curvature of its path. 


In applying the above equation to compute the stress in an 
aeroplane of given mass in, we may assume a series of values for 
V and R, compute the corresponding values for Fn, and tabulate 
the results for reference. Table IV has been obtained in this manner. 
It may be noted that on substituting in the equation, V is taken as 
representing miles per hour, R as feet, and g as 22 miles an hour, 
in order to simplify the figuring, this being 32.1 feet per second. 
The table shows at a glance the centripetal force acting on an aero¬ 
plane to be a fractional part of the gravitational force, or weight of the 
machine and its load. For example, if the aviator is rounding a curve 
of 300 feet radius at 60 miles per hour, the centripetal force is 0.55 
of the total weight. At the excessively high speed of 100 miles per 
hour and the extremely short radius of 100 feet, the centripetal force 
would be 4.55 times the weight of the moving mass. The pilot would 
then feel heavier on his seat than he would sitting still with a man 
of his own weight on either shoulder. For speeds below 60 miles 
per hour and radii of curvature above 500 feet, the centripetal force 
is less than one third of the weight. The table gives values for 
speeds of 30 to 100 miles per hour, by increments of 10 miles, and for 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


127 


TABLE IV 


Centripetal Force Acting on Aeroplane at Various Speeds and 

Curvatures of Flight 


(V) Velocity 
or Speed of 


(R) Radius of Curvature in Feet 


Aeroplane 

100 

200 

300 

400 

500 

Miles per hour 

Weight 

Weight 

Weight 

Weight 

Weight 

30 

0.41 

0.20 

0.14 

0.10 

0.08 

40 

0.73 

0.36 

0.24 

0.18 

0.15 

50 

1.14 

0.57 

0.38 

0.28 

0.23 

60 

1.64 

0.82 

0.55 

. 0.41 

0.33 

70 

2.23 

1.11 

0.74 

0.56 

0.45 

80 

2.91 

1.45 

0.97 

0.73 

0.58 

90 

3.68 

1.84 

1.23 

0.92 

0.74 

100 

4.55 

2.27 

1.52 

1.14 

0.91 


radii of curvature of 100 to 500 feet, by increments of 100 feet, so 
that intermediate speeds and radii may readily be calculated. 

The entire stress on the aeroplane in horizontal flight, being 
substantially the resultant of the total weight and the centripetal 
force, can readily be figured by compounding them. Thus in hori¬ 
zontal wheeling, the resultant force as shown in the diagram, Fig. 
50, is approximately 

F= V Fn 2J rW 2 

In swooping, or undulating in a vertical plane, the resultant 
force at the bottom of the curve has its maximum value 

F= (. Fn+ W) 

and at any other part of the vertical path, it has a more complex 
though smaller value, which need not be given in detail. 

It is obvious that the greatest stress on the machine occurs at 
the bottom of a swoop, if the machine be made to rebound on a sharp 
curve. The total force (Fn-\- 
IF) sustained at this point may 
be found from the table, if V 
and R be known, simply by — 
adding 1 to the figures given, 

then multiplying by the Fig. 50. Force Diagram in Horizontal Wheeling 

weight of the machine. For 

example, if the speed be 90 miles per hour and the radius of 




























128 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


curvature 200 feet, the total force on the sustaining surface would 
be 2.84 times the total weight of the machine. In this case, the stress 
on all parts of the framing would be. 2.84 times its value in level 
flight, when only the weight has to be sustained. The pilot would 
feel nearly three times his usual weight. 

From the foregoing, it is apparent that in ordinary banking 
at moderate speeds on moderate curves, the additional stress due to 
centripetal force is usually well below that due to the weight of the 
machine, and that in violent flying, the added stress may consider¬ 
ably exceed that due to the weight of the machine and may accord¬ 
ingly be dangerous, unless the aeroplane be constructed with a spe¬ 
cially high factor of safety. But there is nothing in the results here 
obtained that seems to make sharp curving and swooping prohibitive. 
If the framing of the machine be given an extra factor of safety, at 
the expense perhaps of endurance and speed, it may be made prac¬ 
tically unbreakable by such maneuvers, and still afford to the pilot 
and spectators alike all the pleasures of fantastic flying. 

Methods of Making Tests. In order to obtain actual data for 
the fluctuations of stress in an aeroplane in varied flying, it is sug¬ 
gested that the stress or 
strain of some tension or 
compression member of 
the machine be recorded 
when in action; or simpler 
still, perhaps, that a record of the aeroplane’s acceleration be taken 
and particularly its transverse acceleration. A very simple device to 
reveal the transverse acceleration of an aeroplane in flight would be 
a massive index elastically supported. A lath or flat bar stretching 
lengthwise of the machine, one end fixed, the other free to vibrate, 
and carrying a pencil along a vertical chronograph drum, would 
serve the purpose. This could be protected from the wind by a 
housing as shown in the sketch, Fig. 51. 

An adjustable sliding weight could be set to increase or diminish 
the amplitude of the tracing, and an aerial or liquid damper could be 
added to smooth the tracing. The zero line would be midway between 
the tracings made on the drum by the stationary instrument when 
resting alternately in its normal position and upside down; the distance 
between this zero line to the actual tracing of the stationary instru- 



Fig. 51. Method of Boxing an Acceleration Recorder 






















BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 129 


ment would be proportional to the aeroplane stresses in level, rec¬ 
tilinear flight; while in level flight on a curve, either horizontal or 
vertical, the deviation of the mean tracing from the zero line would 
indicate the actual stress during such accelerated flight. Of course, 
the drum could be omitted and a simple scale put in its place, so • 
that the pilot could observe the mean excursion of the pencil or pointer 
from instant to instant; also, the damper of such excursion could 
be adjusted to any amount in the proposed instrument if the vibrat¬ 
ing lath fitted its encasing box closely with an adjustable passage 
for the air as it moved to and fro; or if light damping wings were 
added to the lath, or flat pencil bar. 

Another method would be to obtain by instantaneous photog¬ 
raphy the position of the centroid of the aeroplane at a number of 
successive instants, from which could be determined its speed and 
path, or V and R of the first equation, by which data, therefore, 
the stress could be read from Table IV. 

Perhaps the simplest plan would be to add an acceleration pen¬ 
holder, with its spring and damper, to any recording drum the aero¬ 
plane may carry for recording air pressure, temperature, speed, and 
so forth. Indeed, all such records could be taken on a single drum. 

A score of devices, more or less simple, but suitable for reveal¬ 
ing the varying stress in an aeroplane, will occur to any engineer 
who may give the subject attention. And it is desirable in the 
interests both of aeroplane design and of prudent manipulation that 
someone obtain roughly accurate data for the stresses developed in 
actual flight. 

Increment of Speed in Driving. It is commonly supposed by 
aviators that the increment of speed due to driving is very prodigious. 
An easy formula will determine the major limit of such speed incre¬ 
ment. If the initial and natural speed of the aeroplane be v, and 
the change of level in diving be h, while the speed at the end of the 
dive be V, the minimum change of level necessary to acquire any 
increment of speed, V—v, may be found from the equation 


If, as before, g be taken as 22 miles per hour, the equation reduces 



130 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


TABLE V 

Minimum Change of Level Necessary to Produce Various Speed 

Increments 


Natural Speed v 
of the Aeroplane 

Increments of Speed V — 
Miles per hour, 10 Miles per hour, 20 

V 

Miles per hour, 30 

Miles per hour 

Feet 

Feet 

Feet 

30 

23.3 

53.3 

90.0 

40 

30.0 

66.7 

110.0 

50 

36.7 

80.0 

130.0 

60 

43.3 

93.3 

150.0 

70 

50.0 

106.7 

170.0 


to the convenient formula 

30 

in which V and v are taken in miles per hour. Assuming various 
values for V and v, Table V has been found for the corresponding 
values of h in feet: For example, if the natural speed of the aero¬ 
plane in level flight be 50 miles per hour, and the aviator wishes to 
increase the speed by 20 miles per hour, he must dive at least 80 
feet, assuming that the aeroplane falls freely, like a body in vacuo , or 
that its propeller overcomes the air resistance completely; other¬ 
wise the fall must be rather more than SO feet. 

It has been suggested that a contest be arranged to determine 
which aviator could dive most swiftly and rebound most suddenly, 
the prize going to the one who should stress his machine most as 
indicated by the accelerograph above proposed. But to avoid dan¬ 
ger, the contest would have to be supervised by competent experi¬ 
mentalists, and would be best conducted over water. It is safe to sav 
that more than one well-known aeroplane would be denied entry in 
such a contest because of lack of a sufficient factor of safety in its 
construction. 

Dirigible Accidents. Because its wrecks are spectacular and 
the loss involved tremendous, the dirigible has probably earned an 
undeserved reputation, though it must be admitted that the big 
airships have come to grief with surprising regularity. The fact 
must be noted, however, that when an aeroplane is wrecked, the 
















BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 131 


aviator seldom escapes with his life, while the spectators’ lives are 
endangered to an even greater extent, whereas in the case of the 
dirigible, the loss is simply financial, both the crew and passengers 
usually escaping without a scratch. This is largely due to the fact 
that the majority of accidents to dirigibles have happened on the 
ground, and have been caused by lack of facilities for properly 
handling or “docking” the huge gas bag. Of course, lack of flotation 
or an accident to the motors, or both combined, have brought two 
of the numerous Zeppelins to earth in a very hazardous manner, 
though no one was killed, while four French army officers lost their 
lives in the Republique disaster, the exact cause of which was never 
definitely ascertained. This was likewise the case with Erbsloeh 
and his companion who were dropped from the sky, their airship 
having taken fire. It was thought that ignition was. caused by atmos¬ 
pheric electricity, in this instance. 

By far the great majority of later dirigible accidents have been 
due solely to the crude methods of handling the airships on the 
ground, and the frequency with which these have occurred should 
certainly have been responsible for the adoption of improvements 


in this respect at an earlier day. 

For instance, the Morning Post, a big Lebaudy type bought 
for English use, had the envelope ripped open by an iron girder pro¬ 
jecting from its shed. Repairs took several months, and at the end 
of the first trial thereafter, the ship was again wrecked in landing. A 
company of soldiers failed to hold the big craft and it drifted broad¬ 
side into a clump of trees, hopelessly wrecking it. In attempting to 
dock the Deutschland I, 200 men were unable to hold it down, a 
heavy gust of wind catching the big airship and pounding it down 
on top of a wind break that had been specially erected at the entranee 
of the shed for protection. A similar accident happened to the big 
Parseval, a violent gust of wind casting it against the shed and tearing 
such a hole in the envelope that the gas rushed out and the car 
dropped 30 feet to the ground. The big British naval dirigible of the 
rigid type, the Mayfly, was broken in half in attempting to take it 
out of the shed the first time. A cross wind was blowing and the 
gas bag of one of the central sections was torn, deflating it and show¬ 
ing in a striking manner that the solidity of a rigid dirigible results 
chiefly from the aerostatic pressure of the gas in its various compart- 


132 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


ments. Without the gas lift, a rigid frame is so in reality only for 
certain limited distances, as was shown by the total collapse of the 
Mayfly’s frame after having been subjected to the opposed leverage 
of the parts on either side of the original break. This, of course, 
was an error in design, as the frame of a rigid dirigible should cer¬ 
tainly not be so weak in itself as to collapse upon the deflation of a 
single one of the central compartments. The incident on the trip of 
the Zeppelin III to Berlin, in 1909, when the flying blades of a brokeli 
propeller pierced the hull without causing an accident, shows how 
much resistance it mav offer. 

AMATEUR AVIATORS 

It will probably come as a surprise to the average reader to 
learn that at the end of 1910, there were more than a thousand ama¬ 
teur aviators in this country, though all the flights which form the 
subject of newspaper reports have been the work of not more than 
a dozen flyers and doubtless half the population has not as yet seen 
an aeroplane in flight. The desire to fly, whether it be to satisfy one’s 
desire to soar above the world in seeming defiance of natural laws, 
or merely to obtain the financial reward that is won by successful 
flight, attracts a great many from all stations and walks of' life. This 
is particularly true among older boys who look on aviation as an 
advanced form of kite-flying. An example of rather serious work 
along this line may be cited of two high school boys of Chicago, 
Harold Turner and Fred Croll, who built a monoplane weighing 125 
pounds, Fig. 52. This machine, although too small for a motor, 
was equipped with rudder and other operating planes and levers, 
the elevating plane and ailerons being automatically operated by 
an electrical device. On one of its flights the machine, carrying a 
120-pound operator, was started and propelled by attaching it to an 
automobile; it rose to a height of 15 feet, and remained in the air 43 
seconds. 

• 

Contrary to all precedent, the average amateur is bent upon 
achieving what the skilled professional considers as beyond even 
his talent and resources—that of building his own flying machine. 
With every other mechanical vehicle, the amateur learns to drive first 
and the majority are content with that achievement—for example, 
very few chauffeurs have any great ambition to build their own 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 133 


automobiles. With flying machines (one of the most difficult of 
mechanical contrivances), nearly all amateurs want to construct 
new types for themselves and all confidently expect to fly with 
no more knowledge than that gained in constructing them. We all 
have to be apprentices before becoming masters, so all aviators neces¬ 
sarily have to be learners and “grass cutters” before being professionals. 
Charles K. Hamilton was an exception, but he was already an expert 
•pilot of dirigible balloons, and he did not try to build his own aero¬ 
plane. Willard, Mars, and Ely, all Curtiss pupils, flew after a very 
short training, but they did not attempt to construct aeroplanes for 



Fig. 52. What an Amateur Aviator Can Do in Building an Aeroplane 

themselves. This is also true of Clifford B. Harmon, the champion 
amateur. 

Classes of Amateurs. Inventors. Generally speaking, ama¬ 
teurs are of two classes. Those of the first class believe they have 
conceived some entirely new system or invention, or an improve¬ 
ment on some machine that has previously proved a failure; they 
think they have discovered the secret which other inventors who 
preceded them failed to grasp. They expend their meager capital 
in trying to realize high hopes. A comparatively small number 
ever get as far as completing the machine and one trial on the field 
is usually sufficient to put a quietus on those who do, as it is disap¬ 
pointing, to say the least, to see the result of a number of months’ 





134 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


work undone in a twinkling without the machine having shown the 
least disposition or ability to get off terra firma. 

Would-Be Performers. The second class finds its chief incen¬ 
tive in the munificent reward to be gained with what appears to be 
comparatively little effort or expenditure, and the amateur who is 
seeking financial returns has no alternative except to build his own 
machine, or enter either the Wright or Curtiss school of flying and 
secure a berth with one of these companies. 

Wright and Curtiss Patents. This is the result of conditions 
at present obtaining in the field of aviation. The only generally 
successful type§ of American aeroplanes are the Wright and Curtiss, 
and the acquirement of a biplane of either type means the expendi¬ 
ture of at least $5,000 for the machine alone, and they are sold only 
to individuals on the express condition that the machines are not 
to be used for exhibition or as a means of profit to the owner. The 
manufacturers have expert flyers of their own who attend meets 
and fairs throughout the country. It would make their monopoly 
impossible to allow outsiders to fly their aeroplanes publicly or to 
exhibit them. By this restriction the price of the machines is kept 
up and large returns are gained by exhibitions and flying. 

To break this monopoly by importing European machines is 
not possible. All the successful aeroplanes made abroad such as the 
Farman, Cody, and Sommer biplanes; and the Bleriot, Antoinette, 
and Grade monoplanes are fitted with devices of control or stability, 
or both, covered by the Wright patents and can not be flown in this 
country without legal trouble. The numerous foreign aviators 
who brought over their machines in the fall of 1910 to compete at 
the International Meet, did so only on being granted a concession 
by the Wright Company to the effect that they would not be con¬ 
sidered as infringers and sued. Similar arrangements were made at 
subsequent meets and this handicap will always be present where 
foreign machines are used. 

Evasion by Invention of New Types. But when he thinks of 
the unprecedented sums paid professionals for simply exhibiting 
their machines and making short flights, the amateur is anxious to 
obtain a share of the profits. No thought is given the fact that were 
he and all his kind permitted to fly, the achievement would soon 
be commonplace and the aviator’s golden age would be over. There 


BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 135 


are accordingly hundreds of would-be aviators in this country today 
who are striving to evade the Wright basic patents by either devis¬ 
ing entirely new types of aeroplanes, or by inventing new methods 
of control and stability that will not infringe. Others, reasoning 
that the old aeroplanes built before the advent of the Wright machine 
cannot be held as infringements owing to priority, propose to develop 
Maxim, Langley, and Ader machines, though the dictum in the 
New York Court of Appeals decision referred to under the head of 
“Legal Status of Wright Patent,” which states that a prior machine 
which had never been known to fly woidd not be considered an antici¬ 
pation of a modern successful machine, may prove a stumbling block 
in their case as well. Thus, a round of the workshops of these enthu¬ 
siasts reveals a host of heavier-than-air machines of every conceiv¬ 
able type and shape, every one of which, according to its builder, 
is an aeroplane that will fly . Mineola and Garden City, Long Island, 
harbor a score of these little shops the year round, but the same 
scenes are being enacted on a smaller scale in almost every state in 
the Union, and particularly in California, Ohio, Kansas, Massachu¬ 
setts, and Arizona, in addition to which there are many who are 
carrying their experiments on in secret. Each believes deep in his 
heart that he will succeed where a master failed. 

“Maxim failed with this type of machine,” quotes one. “Plow 
did he expect to fly when his control was not proportionate to the 
machine’s lift capacity?” Seemingly, nobody ever thought of that 
and our friend will make a fortune by going Maxim one better, but 
he does not. After months of labor and a great deal of expense he 
finds that some unforeseen difficulty develops which keeps his 
machine to earth as if it were part and parcel of it. Another has 
conceived a type of monoplane that is entirely new—different from 
any existing type—and as the latter are all foreign, he prides him¬ 
self on having developed a monoplane that will be entirely x\meri- 
can—the first and only American monoplane. Theoretically, it is a 
wonder; mechanically it is correct; and it speeds over the turf with 
surprising velocity; but when the elevating rudder is operated to 
make the machine rise, it balks and plunges head first into the 
ground. Again and again, the propeller and other broken parts 
are replaced at no small expense; again and again the inventor goes 
over every part of the machinery and computes the dimensions of 



136 BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


the supporting surface to see if it all corresponds with the formula 
of his special theory. But time after time, the aeroplane acts like a 
jumping frog and lands head first. At last, its builder becomes con¬ 
vinced that there is something radically wrong and begins to depart 
from his original plans, involving changes that simply mean a waste 
of effort and money, since the inventor does not himself know what 
he is trying to correct and no one else knows better than he what 
the trouble is. 

Evasion by Acquiring European Types. Others still, realizing 
from the. foregoing experiences that it is almost impossible to con¬ 
struct an entirely new type of aeroplane off-hand, acquire European 
types and propose to fit them with new control and stability devices, 
such as are not covered by the Wright patents. So far, none has 
succeeded. Somehow, the Wrights seem to have covered all the 
conceivable working devices for control and stability, and the numer¬ 
ous attempts have accordingly resulted in failure. Undoubtedly, 
some of these aeroplanes built by amateurs may really be capable 
of flight; but how is the inventor to know it when he lacks the ability 
to operate it? To know how to fly an aeroplane is a condition prece¬ 
dent to success in the field of aviation that can not be met by build¬ 
ing of a machine. The beginner is thus badly handicapped. Even 
though his machine may embody the elements essential to success¬ 
ful flight, he may never be able to establish the fact, since his first 
blundering attempt or two frequently ends by wrecking the machine, 
and many have neither the means nor the stamina to persevere fur¬ 
ther after a few bad wrecks, involving weeks and weeks of rebuilding 
each time. He can not engage an expert to fly his machine for him, 
as the expert’s time per minute figures out a price that makes him 
gasp, and even at that the expert professional’s time is pretty much 
all taken. Furthermore, very few would run the risk of attempting 
to fly an untried aeroplane—they have more to lose through acci¬ 
dental injury than the builder has through the failure of his theories. 

And so it is with most inventors. They may have conceived 
something really good, but it is not complete, and an aeroplane is 
hardly worth its weight as junk unless it is. Hundreds of patents 
are taken out every year on devices to be used on heavier-than-air 
machines; inventors by scores make daily rounds trying to interest 
financiers in some seemingly wonderful mechanical scheme, and 



BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


137 


dozens of companies are organized each year to exploit some espe¬ 
cially promising inventions. Numbers of aeroplanes are constructed 
and hailed as marvels, but, somehow, when a successful flight is made 
by an amateur it is always with some standard aeroplane, either of 
the Curtiss or Farman types, and mostly the former. In fact, the 
Curtiss has become a favorite with the amateur since the Federal 
court refused to sustain the granting of a preliminary injunction in 
favor of the Wright Company against Glenn II. Curtiss. It is accord¬ 
ingly being taken for granted in general that the outcome of the 
Wright vs. Curtiss litigation will be to declare the Curtiss machine 
non-infringing. Should it be the other way about, there will certainly 
be gloom and despair in the amateur camps throughout the country. 
However, neither the Wrights nor Curtiss impose any restriction 
upon the building of machines of their types for experimental pur¬ 
poses, so that the amateur who wishes to copy them may safely do 
so, provided no attempt be made to employ the machine for pur¬ 
poses of public exhibition or financial gain. 















- 







' 




EXAMINATION PAPER 




BUILDING AND FLYING AN 

AEROPLANE 

PART II 


Read Carefully: Place your name and full address at the head of the 
paper. Any cheap, light paper like the sample previously sent you may he 
used. Do not crowd your work, but arrange it neatly and legibly. Do not 
copy the answers from the Instruction Paper; use vour own words, so that we 
may he sure you understand the subject. 


1. Contrast the Bleriot with the Curtiss in every essential 

t/ 

particular. 

2. Give details of the Bleriot running gear. 

3. How is the supporting plane of the Bleriot built and 
reinforced? 

4. What sort of fabric is used to cover the plane and how is it 
fastened on? 

5. Describe by sketch the Bleriot control system. 

6. How does the location of the motor in the Bleriot com¬ 
pare with its location in the Curtiss? 

7. What is “grass-cutting” and why is it practiced? 

8. Describe some of the devices used in aviation schools. 

9. How is the elevating plane manipulated to start the aero¬ 
plane from the ground? 

10. How is the static balance of a machine determined? 

11. How does w r arping the wings affect the behavior of an 
aeroplane? How should this be practiced? 

12. Give the process of making a turn in an aeroplane. 

13. • What is “banking”? What must be done to prevent 
excessive banking on a turn? 

14. How can a turn be made in a wind? 

15. Why should the start and the landing always be made in 
the teeth of the wind? 

10. What is the attitude of the masters of aviation toward 
fancy flying? 




BUILDING AND FLYING AN AEROPLANE 


17. Classify the most common sources of accidents. 

18. What must an aviator do in case his motor stops in mid¬ 
air? Is this considered a dangerous situation? 

19. What are the relative merits of biplane and monoplane 
as regards the avoidance of accidents? 

20. What are some of the devices used to protect the aviator 
in case his machine collapses? 

21. Analyze rather carefully the additional stresses put upon 
an aeroplane when an aviator suddenly swoops and then rights 
his machine by a quick movement of the control. 

After completing the work, add and sign the following statement: 

I hereby certify that the above work is entirely my own. 

(Signed) 

























